The Flow of Time is Always Cruel
by Gerudo Desert
Summary: Six years after the events of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, an old evil has come to threaten Hyrule. Together, Link and Zelda must fight to restore their home. On the way, they learn to come face to face with the consequences of their actions as well as the scars left behind on themselves and the rift between each other. — eventual Link/Zelda
1. prolouge

**notes one: **I think I actually know what I'm doing. Then again, it is 2 am, so maybe not.

**notes two: **I have wanted to write a post-OoT chapter fic for a long, long time. I'm finally doing it. There will be romance, there will be politics, there will be adventure, and there will be angst. There will also be mentions of other games in the series, and those mentions won't be spoiler free. I seriously doubt there will be fluff, but it's not going to be a tragic Shakespeare ending either. Probably. Haha.

**notes three: **I'll try to keep updates relatively regular, like once a week at minimum. If you favorite the story, it'd be great if you leave a review too! Come say hi, I don't bite!

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, not me.

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_Her fingers were tight around the bow, familiar yew that had molded to the outline of her hand digging splinters into her palm. Zelda breathed in deep: the acrid air smelled of smoke, fire, and blood. Cinders floated down from the sky to rest in her hair and her clothes. Her horse shifted nervously underneath her, snorting and tossing his head._

_ Death Mountain was a burning silhouette against the dark night sky, a plume of smoke billowing up to shroud the stars. Lava ran in molten red-orange rivers down the volcano's sides, and Zelda could only pray to the goddesses that her plan would work, that it would keep the people safe, that it would keep __**Hyrule **__safe—_

_ Her head snapped around when she heard the horn call. An army was spread out behind her— men and women, Hylians, Gorons, Zora, and Gerudo—prepared to fight and die for their home. And next to her, riding a chestnut mare, was a boy. His tunic was, as always, green; he gripped the violet hilt of a sword in his left hand. There were shadows under his eyes and worry lines at the corners of his lips and scars all over his skin; all features that did not belong on one so young. _

_ Before them, another army sprawled across Hyrule Field. _

_ It was wrong, what Zelda did next. So simple, yet so very, very wrong._

_ She raised her bow in the air, and shouted for the charge. Her army thundered across the field, and then there was blood in the air, blood on her hands, blood thick between her teeth—_

Zelda shot up, tangled in her blankets and stomach lurching. She pushed the covers off and let her legs dangle over the side of the bed, breathing long and slow to quiet her pounding heart.

She was always a quiet sleeper even immersed in nightmares, never crying out or thrashing around. Still the door opened and a shadow stepped in, blade drawn. "Zelda?" came the whisper. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Impa," she answered. "I just had a dream."

Her Sheikah guardian sheathed her blade and took a seat on the edge of the bed, though they could hardly see one another in a room lit only by moonlight. "A dream, or a nightmare?"

Zelda knew before the question left Impa's mouth. Perhaps it was the clarity of the vision that told her, or some knowledge gifted by the Triforce—but it didn't matter. Zelda knew. "Neither," she said. "A prophecy."

She stood, ignoring the chill of the flagstones beneath her bare feet, and walked out onto her balcony. Her hands went to the single long braid she slept in, fingers deftly unraveling the ties until her hair tumbled around her shoulders. She leaned her forearms on the railing and looked up at the sky—the stars gleamed on black canvas. The moon was a slim crescent far above.

_Link, _Zelda thought, the breath leaving her lungs. _Link_.

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	2. cold as a razor blade

**notes one: **I'm of the opinion that Link is the only one who remembers the events of Ocarina of Time. I believe this mainly because I have a sick desire to watch my favorite characters suffer.

**notes two: **I'm also of the opinion that both Link and Zelda remember their past incarnations. Not a full, detailed memory, more like the vague recollection you have of your dreams from last night. However, the time warp in Ocarina of Time screwed everything up, so Zelda doesn't have that knowledge anymore. This doesn't actually matter in this chapter, but it will come into play later.

**disclaimer:** The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo. Hylia bless their hearts, this game has ruined my life.

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With one powerful swing of his sword, Link cleaved the last Stalfos in half and watched as it dissipated into smoke and bones. Breathing hard, he surveyed the small clearing and the destruction he had wrought—at least a dozen Stalfos, all killed by his sword. The stench of death, acrid and wrong, invaded his senses; and although there was no blood, Link felt that he was covered in it. Those had been _people_ once, every last one of them, lost in this seemingly endless forest.

He supposed he should be glad they hadn't found their way to the deepest part of the Lost Woods, where the trees shot so high that you couldn't see their tops through the fog. Termina and Hyrule were not meant to intersect; he and Skull Kid had both learned that the hard way.

Link sheathed his sword and crossed the clearing to where Epona waited for him. He had left her a safe distance away from the battle, but there was no need to tether her; she would follow her master to hell and back if he asked. "Hello, beautiful girl," he breathed as she nuzzled up against him, searching his green tunic for a treat. Smiling, he fed her a cube of sugar and swung up into the saddle, turning her towards the village.

Six years had passed since the day Link woke up in the Temple of Time after saving the world. He had wasted no time in warning Zelda of Ganondorf's betrayal, saving the world a second time—but the people no longer worshipped his name, and the princess was no longer the girl he had known. Six years, and he had learned what it was like to grow up, though at ten years old he had already known and seen things that did not belong in a child's mind. Link was left feeling too young and too old all at once; and really, he didn't know where he belonged anymore.

Kokiri Village was bustling with activity as its inhabitants prepared for winter. Autumn was always the busiest time of the year for the Kokiri, as they had to harvest all they could find to last through Hyrule's most barren season. Sometimes if they were struggling, Link would buy provisions in Castle Town and bring them to the forest; he felt he owed it to them, especially since he had more money now than he knew what to do with. But his aid was usually met with wary thanks and uncertain smiles. After all, Link had left the forest and grown up—two abstract concepts for a civilization of eternal children. A Kokiri cannot leave the forest and come back pretending nothing had happened. And Link was not even a Kokiri, so his visits to the woods were always fleeting.

Leaving Epona to graze near the river, he ducked into the treehouse that he had once considered a second home, stooping to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. Saria sat at her wooden table, weaving baskets for harvested food. "Any luck?" she asked without looking up from her work. Link shook his head tiredly and took a seat across from her, rubbing his face with his hands.

"I'm starting to lose hope," he admitted quietly. "I don't think Navi's…around, anymore." His gentle wording was more for Saria than for himself. Losing a fairy was the most horrific thing that could happen to a Kokiri. It was like losing your soul, your other half. Saria's lips tightened, and her blue eyes flicked to her own fairy hovering over her shoulder, then back to Link.

Saria was one of the few people who knew what had really happened to him after he left the Kokiri—she knew that she was a Sage, knew that he was the Hero of Time, knew just how close Hyrule had come to total destruction. Link had long since given up on being understood; there was only one person in this timeline who could do that. But at least Saria tried to.

"I'm sure that wherever Navi is, she's looking out for you," she offered cautiously, smiling up at him. He tried to smile back.

"One of your messenger birds brought me word of unusual monster activity in the Lost Woods," he said abruptly. "But I haven't found anything out of the ordinary. Do you know where I should look?"

Saria set down a finished basket and looked him in the eyes. "There is a cave not far to the west of the Forest Temple. Monsters seem to be pouring out of there, day after day. A group of our hunters got attacked a few days ago. Mido was among them. You'll have to ask him if you want details."

Link was not interested in asking Mido for anything. He had spent the first ten years of Link's life making sure he knew he did not belong in the forest. Though Link had needed no reminders, Mido had always been quick to shove the pain of not having a fairy in his face. He'd tried to discourage Saria, Link's only real friend, from even speaking to him; he had tried to blame Link for the Great Deku Tree's death. That may have changed under Ganondorf's rule, when Saria had left to become the Forest Sage; but Mido was the same as always in this timeline, and Link still felt Navi's absence with each step he took. He didn't need Mido to remind him of that.

"Thanks, Saria," he said, standing up to take his leave, but stopped with a hand on the doorframe. "Can I ask you something?"

When she nodded, he voiced an inquiry that had been on his mind for a very, very long time—perhaps since the day she had placed her clay ocarina in his hands and told him they would be friends forever. "Did you know from the start that I wasn't a Kokiri? That my mother came from outside the forest?"

There was a long pause; nothing but the tweets of birds and the chirps of insects filled the air between them. Finally, Saria drew in a slow breath and answered, "Yes, I did."

It did not come as a shock to Link, but something in his gut twisted into a knot all the same. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Saria dropped her gaze from his and began to weave another basket. Link pretended not to notice that her hands shook. "The Great Deku Tree always knew you were meant for great things. I don't think he knew how very important you would grow up to be, but…your mother did, somehow. And I could tell the moment I took you from her arms. I guess I just wanted you to have as much of a childhood as possible before the time came for you to leave the forest. Do you wish I had told you sooner?"

Link swallowed hard, broad shoulders pressed against the doorframe. Did he? He thought of long days waiting and waiting for the glimmer of a fairy to appear beside him; of growing taller than any Kokiri ever should and having no explanation for it; of working just as hard—often harder—than the rest of the village and still feeling out of place. But he couldn't blame Saria for that. She was his first friend; the only one who had stayed by his side in those days.

He gave her a simple, "No," in response and shoved out the door before she could say anything else. It was the truth, and it was the best he could do—Link could battle terrifying monsters without flinching, but in the face of his past…he was a coward.

The Forest Temple was not far for someone who knew the way. Link guided Epona carefully, keen ears trained to hear the remnants of Saria's song. It was something he had never understood, that the ocarina melody still played whether or not Saria was sitting on that stump at the base of the ancient temple. Then again, the Lost Woods were not a place for logic.

After a while, he turned towards the west and came to a clearing. The entrance of the cave jutted out of a cliff's face, wide and ominous like a yawning mouth with rocks for teeth. Link left Epona outside and slipped into the gloom. The tunnel led down and down, and he noted by the light of the torches hanging on the walls that this was no naturally formed cave; it had been dug.

Eventually, the tunnel leveled out and made a sharp turn. Link heard the clunking of large, heavily armored footsteps, just around the corner. He had his bow out and an arrow strung in an instant; the Moblin was dead before it even registered Link's presence. Link clenched his jaw and yanked out the arrow embedded between its beady eyes—it seemed that the killing would never end, not for him.

He continued down the tunnel, taking out Moblins as he went. They appeared to be guards, and surprisingly well armored ones. Not for the first time, he longed for the steady weight of the Master Sword in his hands. He had a good sword, crafted by the castle blacksmith on the princess's request, but Link had been _born_ to carry the Master Sword. He felt incomplete without it.

The smell hit him after he took out a fifth Moblin. Sweat, blood, metal, fire…what was down there? Finding a room that broke off from the main tunnel, he shoved open the door and found himself in what could be nothing other than a smithy. More Moblins, as well as Stalfos—about half a dozen altogether—worked the forges, hammering steel into shape. Link heard the boiling hiss as a red-hot blade was dumped into a basin of water. They were making armor and weapons—a lot of them, based on the pile of finished products in the room's corner. He took all this in quickly, wasting no more time than was necessary, before his first arrow hit a Moblin in the back of the skull. The rest of them launched themselves at Link, and he drew his sword.

His thoughts moved faster than his blade as he flew into battle. Most monsters had brains the size of peas; and besides that, they served only themselves. The only reason they would all be working together like this was if they had a leader, but who? Ganondorf was imprisoned—

Link shook his head and shoved those thoughts away. Fighting with his head far away was only good for one thing: getting him killed. He slashed through the monsters one by one, green blood running down the length of his sword, until the last body thudded to the ground, dead. He let out a long, heavy breath. Whatever lay in this cave was a serious threat. He wished he had brought health potions; something told him he would need them. But it was too late to turn back now.

Starting down the tunnel once again, he detected a muffled, continuous roar somewhere below. Link was so focused on trying to figure out what manner of beast it was that he didn't see the way the tunnel widened far more than was necessary in one area. He didn't see the carefully placed planks lying in the middle of the floor. He didn't see the hole they covered.

The moment his boot met wood instead of dirt, Link knew. He threw out his arms, scrabbling to get a handhold somewhere, but it was futile. His wrist smacked against the tunnel's floor as the boards broke under his weight, and he yelped as pain shot up his arm. He was in free fall for a moment, and then he hit the surface of water and sank. The cold shocked him, numbing his muscles almost immediately; his lungs tried to inhale, earning him a mouthful of freezing water. His instincts took over, and he kicked for the surface, dropping his shield; it was far too heavy to swim with. Link supposed he should have been grateful that a pit of spikes hadn't been waiting for him at the foot of that cursed trap.

He reconsidered that thought when a Shellblade clamped itself around his calf, its powerful shells digging into his skin. Link thrashed, trying in vain to shake it off, before shoving his sword down and severing the muscle that held the Shellblade together. Pushing past the fire in his leg, he kicked once again for the surface, lungs begging for air.

A pair of very hairy, very ungentle arms hauled Link out of the pool and threw him on the ground, where he coughed up water, shivering uncontrollably. He recognized the scent from earlier; that of monsters and death, and the various inhuman sounds surrounding him confirmed it. He wasted no time drawing his sword with his uninjured hand and facing his opponent—his _opponents_.

Link was in a cavern the size of all of Castle Town, and it was filled to the brim with monsters. Stalfos, Moblins, Wolfos, Iron Knuckles, Dogondos, Redeads…every enemy he had faced while saving the world, plus species he had never even seen before. Skulltulas hung from the ceiling; skulls and Poes floated about. There were thousands of them, surrounding him on all sides, roaring, growling, drooling for his blood. Fear and adrenaline shot through him, his heart slamming against his ribcage frantically. His hand tightened around his sword, planning his first move.

Before any of the monsters could so much as blink, Link launched himself at a Dogondo, impaling it with his sword and whirling around to slice a Stalfos in half. The powerful claws of a Wolfos tore through his tunic and the chainmail underneath; then there was pain, and warm blood running down his skin. Link took down the Wolfos and kicked away a Stalchild. Hearing the clunk of heavy armor behind him, he threw himself to the side as an Iron Knuckle's axe nearly came down on his skull—backing right into another monster. The cold, skeletal, vice-like arms of a Redead encircled him, its teeth sinking into his shoulder. He screamed and slammed the pommel of his sword into the Redead's skull, then pushed its corpse away and turned to his next opponent.

His eyes widened. The gaps he had just made were already filled, each monster he had taken down replaced by five more. Panic swamped his thoughts; he shook with fear and cold; his wounds stung. Link had never faced this many enemies before. He'd never even fought _half _this many at once before. The Triforce of Courage offered no help—Farore was not with him today. He had no healing potions, no shield, no Master Sword, not even a fairy to guide him. He _had_ saved the world, but what could one person do against an army?

He could only come up with one answer.

For the first time in his life, Link ran.

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	3. thunderheads

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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Link stumbled out of the cave's mouth and all but threw himself on Epona's back, digging his heels into her sides to urge her into a gallop. She bolted forward immediately, streaking through the trees with her ears back and eyes white around the edges; she could sense her master's panic as well as smell the monsters so close in pursuit. They were fast, but Epona was faster. Link had never been more grateful to have her on his side.

Where could he go? Not back to the Kokiri; that would only lead the monsters into the village and cause a massacre. He was in no shape to turn around and fight them all; his numerous wounds caused jolts of pain with every step Epona took. His only choice was to try to lose them. He turned Epona towards the edge of the forest, then pulled out his bow and turned around to look at his enemies.

Clearly, the entire army had not chased him out of the cave, but there were still several dozen coming after him. Link nocked an arrow and drew back the bowstring, the wrist he had hurt in his fall screaming in protest, and took out a Lizalfos—not that it did much good. Still, he continued shooting, missing more often than usual because of the tremor in his hands and the pain in his wrist. Once his quiver was empty, he turned back around.

Something struck Link's shoulder blade with what felt like the force of a Goron, tearing through chain mail and piercing his flesh, causing him to howl in pain. He collapsed forward against Epona's neck, grabbing her mane to keep himself from tumbling off her back. It was a sensation he was unfortunately familiar with. The monsters had bows of their own, apparently. Link didn't look back to see the arrow embedded in his skin—he didn't need to. He had to get out of here.

The borderline of the trees was visible now. The sun was setting behind him, giving the forest an eerie red-orange glow. Link threaded his fingers through Epona's mane, trying to sit up in the saddle, but the arrow was an agonizing weight on his back, pressing him down. His breath wheezed in his throat, and blood soaked his tunic. But the break in the trees was so close, so _close_—

Link heard the whistling of a second arrow too late; Epona screamed as it struck her flank, but by some miracle she hardly faltered. Red-hot rage filled him, boiling under his skin. He wanted to turn around and _destroy_ the monsters that had hurt his horse; to tear them to pieces until there was nothing left but the blood soaking the ground, but he shoved the impulse down. The ugly desire to kill had always terrified him more than anything. Epona kept going, and suddenly they were out in the open field, the sky a tapestry of sunset colors above them.

Link twisted around to look at his hunters. Strangely enough, the monsters had stopped at the edge of the forest, and now they faded back into the shadows with no attempt of pursuing him. That was odd behavior, but relief swamped Link all the same—relief for himself, but also for the safety of Hyrule. He shuddered to think of what would happen if the entire army came to Hyrule Field.

Epona broke to a canter, then a trot, then a walk. Link knew he should remove the arrow from his back and her flank, but strength eluded him. He slumped in the saddle, his head spinning, barely able to support his own weight.

"Beautiful girl," he mumbled to Epona, stroking her neck partly to comfort her and partly to keep himself conscious. "Just hold on. We'll make it through this." Not for the first time, Link thanked the Goddesses for his incredible horse and her tenacity. He would not make it out of this mess alive if not for Epona.

Then his shoulder blade, where the arrow had struck, began to tingle oddly—then it began to burn. His hands gripped Epona's mane tightly, fingernails digging into his palms to keep himself from crying out and attracting the attention of any wild predators. The burning began to spread, sharp and biting; down his back, through his arms, filling his veins until he felt like his blood was boiling inside his skin. _Poison_—that was his last coherent thought. The arrow had been poisoned. Agony swamped him, carrying his mind away with the tide.

The sun sank below the horizon, bringing the warmth with it. Still soaked from his fall into the pool, Link trembled with cold, struggling to stay awake. He had a horrible dread that if he fell asleep, he might never wake up again. He did not know how much time passed after that. He rode in a dreamlike stupor, weak from blood loss and dizzy with pain.

When they passed through the ranch gates, Link's strength failed him. He heard shouts, frantic and panicked, but they sounded very far away. His stiff fingers released Epona's mane, his muscles went slack, and he tumbled out of the saddle.

He was unconscious the moment he hit the ground.

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"—infection isn't going to wait, Malon. That arrow has to come out _now_."

His eyes wouldn't open. His pulse was pounding too loudly in his ears. His body was impossibly heavy, laying on his stomach on something wooden and cool. It was difficult to draw in air; his lungs felt seared. Breathing hurt. Everything hurt.

There was a quiet sigh. "Fine. Ingo, get a wagon ready. Father, hold him."

Shuffling footsteps; the opening and closing of a door. Where was he? Why couldn't he _move_? Hands took hold of his shoulders, pressing him down.

And then, blinding, brilliant pain.

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The clip-clop of hooves against stone. The creaking of wagon wheels. His head on someone's lap. Fingers brushing against his forehead.

He still could not open his eyes.

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"—will do whatever we can, Princess. But there is no telling whether or not he will make it through."

_Princess?_

"I know he will." The voice was musical and gentle, but backed by iron—and more familiar than the back of his own hand. He had known it for a hundred lifetimes. "He always does."

Link's eyes flew open. He tried to say her name, but his tongue wasn't working. His vision blurred as her golden hair spilled over his eyes, and she pressed her lips to his forehead.

Then the darkness rose up, and pulled him under.

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	4. winter just wasn't my season

**notes 1: **I don't really like how this turned out? I just...don't. It went through, like, three drafts before I gave up and decided to post it.

**notes 2: **I have no intention of writing Princess Zelda as a damsel in distress. None whatsoever.

**notes 3: **so...reviews? *heavily suggestive eyebrow wiggling*

**disclaimer: **yeah, not mine.

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Zelda dipped the cloth in the bucket of water once again, watching as the blood on her hands dissipated into the liquid in red wisps. The late afternoon sun sent rays of orange through the sickroom's window; they dappled the carpet and gave her enough light to work by. Her gaze shifted to the object lying on the nightstand—the arrow Malon had placed in her hands the previous night. She glared at the tip, coated with a vibrant green liquid that none of her apothecaries had been able to identify. It was this poison that had caused Link so much torment.

He stirred under the blankets, his sleep restless and breathing labored. Death was no longer a threat to him—it rarely ever was—but the poison wracking his body kept him unconscious. There was a broken wrist, a heavily bruised leg, claw marks running down his side, and a bite mark on his shoulder. Then there was the arrow wound. Zelda thanked the Goddesses for Malon; if the farm girl hadn't removed the arrow when she did, infection surely would have set in.

She brought the damp cloth to Link's arm, cleaning his bloodstained skin without jostling his injuries. Impa had woken her late in the night as they brought him in, saying that Malon and her father had rushed to the castle with Link in a wagon, his life dangling by a thread. He had been covered in blood—his own blood, but also the green and yellow blood of monsters. For hours, Link had struggled through delirium and pain, thrashing and screaming on the bed until he finally slipped into a deep sleep. Even now, after his wounds were stitched shut and bandaged, he tossed his head from side to side, mumbling incoherently.

What had happened to him? Malon had said he rode into the ranch barely conscious; even Epona had been injured. It was not at all the first time Zelda had seen him hurt, but never this badly before, and he had certainly never allowed his beloved horse to get injured. She had not left her spot on this stool at his bedside since the healers allowed her in to see him.

Her thoughts screeched to a halt when she heard the change in Link's breathing. He turned his head to the side, his brow furrowing and his breath hitching as he registered the pain. A groan slipped through his clenched teeth. Zelda dropped the cloth immediately and took his hand in hers, brushing back the hair in his eyes.

"Link?" she encouraged, hope tight and searing in her throat. "I'm here."

His eyes opened slowly. He blinked against the light, glancing around the room before his gaze fell on her face. "Princess," he breathed, voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. "You're…a beautiful sight to wake up to."

Tears came; Zelda blinked them back. "I would hit you if you weren't an infirm," she said crossly, but her voice was heavy. "I was _worried_." Link chuckled, then winced. She noticed.

"Are you hurting a lot?" she asked. Chills ran up her spine as his screams before they had subdued him echoed in her ears. She knew he would be in pain, but Link had always concealed both physical and emotional traumas; it was hard to tell how ill he truly felt. "The healers gave you something a few hours ago, but I can call them back if you need more."

His eyes fell shut. The longer he was awake, the more prominent it became—the same burning sensation that had tormented him before, though it was not as severe yet. He tried to breathe through it, but even speaking seemed like a challenge. There were few things Link hated more than appearing weak.

"Link?" she prompted softly.

He was silent. She sighed.

"I know you don't like showing pain to others," Zelda murmured, smoothing a gentle hand over his hair. "There is nothing to be ashamed of, Link. Just tell me how you're feeling."

He grimaced and opened his eyes; there had never been any point in trying to lie to Zelda. "It…feels like my blood is on fire," he admitted finally, speaking in halting, strained sentences. "I—I think that poison is still in my system."

Zelda pressed her lips together in sympathy, but she didn't let the feeling reach her expression. She knew how much he despised pity. She stood and left the room temporarily to send for one of the healers, who she had sent to get some rest.

"Where's Epona?" Link asked worriedly when she sat back down.

"She's back at Lon Lon Ranch," Zelda reassured, reaching for a glass of water and helping him lift his head to drink it. "Malon sent us a messenger this afternoon. Epona is fine; the poison didn't seem to affect her. It will be a while before you can ride, but she will heal just as you will."

Link let out a relieved sigh. There was silence for a moment. "What happened?" she inquired hesitantly.

He bit his lip and looked away, then parted his lips to speak. "I...was in Kokiri Forest," he began slowly. "I went to—to a cave, and—" he stopped, his face twisted in anguish, his breaths coming quickly. The pain was getting worse, so much worse; like molten lava simmering in his veins. "S-sorry—"

"Don't tell me now," Zelda interrupted gently, her heart clenched tight in her chest—deep sorrow for him, unadulterated rage towards the ones who did this. She took Link's hand in both of hers to anchor him; his fingernails dug into her palms unconsciously. She didn't mind. It was only a fraction of what he had to be feeling. "We can wait for the potion to get here. And don't apologize, either. You have nothing to be sorry for."

She talked to him while they waited. She talked about irrelevant things, unimportant things, but it seemed to give him something to focus on other than how much he was hurting. It had been too long since the two of them had spent time together. Link rarely stayed in one place for long—she knew that traveling had become ingrained into his soul during his quest to save the world, and that had never gone away—but he had been gone for an especially long period this time. Zelda had never desired to tie him down; she knew that he sometimes looked at her and saw another Zelda from another time, but that didn't stop her from counting (it had been two months, a week and five days of waiting) the time they spent apart.

The healer finally arrived and gave Link a red potion; he drank it greedily. Almost immediately, the burning in his blood began to subdue, receding to a dull throb. It wasn't pleasant, but it was still an immense relief. Link told Zelda everything that had happened after the healer left, omitting no small detail. She listened through the whole thing without interrupting once. When he was finally done, she stared out the window absently, chewing on her lower lip and thinking hard.

"What do you think they want?" she wondered.

He shook his head. "It's not about what _they_ want. It's about what whoever is controlling them wants. They're just…pawns. That's all they've ever been."

Zelda knew how he felt about killing. She was always the first one who woke up in the dead of night during his stays at the palace to hear screams echoing through the castle halls. She would rush in to find Link fighting against the sheets with his fingernails digging gouges into his palms, yelling that the blood was drowning him, that he didn't want to kill them—it happened far, far too often. It had frightened her as a child of ten years old, and it still frightened her now, but despite her fear she would always wake him up and bandage his bleeding hands and stay with him until the horror in his eyes faded.

(And it did fade eventually, but it never disappeared. Not even now.)

"Are you all right?" Zelda found herself asking. She knew she should be finding her father and preparing Hyrule for a siege; but this was more important to her at the moment.

He knew she was not asking about wounds of the flesh. She knew that he knew, too. And he wanted to tell her that he was afraid—that fear sat coiled in his stomach like a snake constricting his inside, that it had always been there, that he could hardly remember what life was like without it. He wanted to tell her that he dreaded falling back to sleep, because sleep only brought nightmares. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry it had been so long since he had returned.

But Link didn't say any of those things.

All he said was, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

Link exhaled, hearing the hurt in her voice. She didn't believe him for a second. "I missed you," he offered weakly. That, at least, was not a lie.

Before she could answer, the door opened to admit the healer, who had returned to change Link's bandages. "Zelda, you should go," Link said. "You won't want to see this."

She looked at the healer, who shrugged. "It…would be easier to treat him in solitude, Princess," he admitted.

Zelda nodded at him, then looked at Link. "Rest well," she said softly, and swept out of the room. She had much to do, and she wasn't sure how much time there was to do it. The door closed behind her, but not before she heard Link's sharp cry as the healer began cleaning his wounds.

And she swore that she would find whoever had caused this, wherever they were, and make them _pay_.

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	5. prison blues

**notes 1: **Link has PTSD, or something similar to it. I hinted at this a few times in earlier chapters but I think it's better to come out and say it. I've had this headcanon for a long time because I don't think _anyone_ could go through what he went through at such a young age and come out unscathed. Especially when Navi, who was basically the only constant in his life after leaving the forest, left without so much as a goodbye.

**notes 2: **I hope you guys aren't just here for Zelink, cause it's gonna be a while before they get together. They have a lot of stuff to work through before they kissy kissy.

**notes 3: **This chapter is kinda boring…I need some time to flesh out the actual plotline of this fic so I don't dive into it without a plan. Which I do far too often.

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda and all its characters belongs to Nintendo.

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"Zelda, I know that boy is your friend, but I see no reason why we should take his word seriously."

Zelda met her father's gaze evenly, her eyes sharp and furious. "He has been fighting for the crown for years. Think of all the people he's helped!"

The king of Hyrule sighed and turned his attention back to the reports on his desk. He was an aging man with bushy white hair and a similarly bushy white beard. His crown was gold adorned with one ruby, sapphire and emerald each to represent the Spiritual Stones. He avoided his daughter's gaze; sometimes ignoring her succeeded in earning him some peace and quiet. Zelda was very spirited, especially when it came to that Kokiri boy. The king had never really understood it.

"What happened to Link isn't everything I wanted to tell you about," Zelda insisted, leaning forward. "I had a dream…a premonition—"

"Enough with your dreams!" the king snapped irritably. "Have any of them truly come to pass? You are sixteen, nearly a woman. It is time to stop playing childish games."

_I __**am**__ a woman_, Zelda wanted to say. _And they __**have **__come true._ But a life's worth of training as a princess made her hold her tongue. Her father was nearly impossible to argue with when he set his mind to something. Besides, he did not know the reality of all that Link had done for Hyrule—few did. She knew much of the story, as did Impa and Saria. But only Link himself and his long-lost fairy, Navi, knew the whole truth.

"Link did Hyrule a great service when he warned us of Ganondorf's plans for treachery," Zelda said instead, voice cold. "Doesn't that make his word count for something?"

"I still have no idea how the boy came by such knowledge at the age of ten," her father answered. He never referred to Link by his name, only as "the boy". "I would not have believed it if we hadn't uncovered proof in his letters to the Gerudo. But the boy was half-dead when he arrived here several nights ago. Surely what he saw was warped by fever and blood loss."

"He was half-dead because he faced _an army of monsters_ in Kokiri Forest," Zelda said through gritted teeth. "I know you've seen him fight, Father. Do I need to remind you how he saved the tribes' ambassadors when there was an assassination attempt? When they were supposed to be under _your_ protection? He could best all the guards in this palace at once without trouble. If those monsters were able to nearly kill _him_, what makes you think we should leave defenseless civilians unprotected?"

"I am not denying his skill in battle, but the soundness of his mind."

Zelda felt as if she had been physically slapped. Her composure faltered and nearly dropped, but she had long since learned not to show weakness before her father. Her expression remained mild and nearly blank, but behind it she was a raging tempest.

"Do not think I am unaware of his…_behavior_ when he stays at the palace. He causes quite a bit of commotion every night," the king continued coolly. He used the word 'behavior' mockingly, as if he spoke of a petulant child who refused to listen to his mother. Zelda's hands shook; she fisted them in her skirt to hide it. "I have heard your guardian Impa call him 'hero', though I cannot fathom why. The boy acts nothing like a hero should. He shrieks at mere dreams like a child. He jumps at the slightest sound. He rarely speaks; when he does he is blunt and solemn."

"What are you suggesting?" Zelda asked pass numb lips.

"I am suggesting that what the boy thinks he has seen is not necessarily real."

Zelda stood, chair scraping against the stone floor, and left her father's office without a reply.

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Zelda did not allow herself to breathe until she was out in her garden. It did not officially belong to her, but she had claimed it a long time ago. It was here that, six years ago, she had stared through the window as Ganondorf swore false allegiance to the king. And it was here that she had first met Link.

Of course, it was not the first time he had met her. It had taken years for Zelda to fully comprehend Link's journey through time, as well as the actions of her counterpart in the future, a princess (or was she a queen, now?) whose sadness still lingered in the hero's eyes.

Her father's voice rang in her ears. _I am not denying his skill in battle, but the soundness of his mind._

Zelda was angry with her father, that was for sure. He had spent too long writing her off as an ignorant little girl whose mind was in the clouds, despite the mark of the Triforce on her hand. And she had no doubt that Link had truly encountered a monster army; he was neither delusional nor a liar. But part of her…part of her could not help but agree with what her father had said.

Link had been troubled by nightmares since they had met. He was sensitive, jumpy, and distant. Zelda had thought that his instability would even out over time as the memories faded, but it struck her that he wasn't getting any better—he was just hiding the fact that he was getting worse. It had been six years since they met. How had she not noticed his decline?

But she could not focus her attention on both Link and the trouble surely brewing in the south. Just because the army hadn't followed Link out of Kokiri Forest didn't mean that they would stay there forever. If they invaded, Hyrule would have to be ready.

First, she located the royal architect, an old woman who had been one of Zelda's tutors when she was young. The woman hardly looked up when Zelda entered the room, too absorbed in an intricate sketch spread out on her cluttered desk.

"Ah, Princess. How can I help you today?"

"I need you to do whatever you can to fortify the walls and the drawbridge. I want Castle Town to be impenetrable. You can inform Impa of whatever you need for construction and I will assure that you get it."

The head architect raised her eyebrows. "I'm afraid you don't have that authority, Princess."

"You'll receive a royal warrant from me. I will grant you whatever you need, and my father will be none the wiser. If anything goes wrong, it will come down on my head, not yours. You and everyone involved will be safe. You will also be compensated generously."

The older woman still looked skeptical, but Zelda would not back down. If her father would not take action, then she would. She raised her chin and stood with steel in her spine. "I believe Hyrule is in danger. My father doesn't believe me. But you've known me since I was a child. Haven't I always acted with Hyrule's best interest in mind?"

The architect finally gave in. Zelda had similar discussions with the both the captain of the guard and the castle blacksmith. They both hesitated at first, fearing the consequences of the law, but then bent under the willpower in their princess's voice. The captain would crack down on his guards with more training and drills, enforcing constant vigilance and skill within the castle walls. Guards were deployed to the villagers scattered throughout Hyrule to keep the people safe. The blacksmith would re-outfit the army with improved armor, as well as mending broken equipment and producing more weapons. Catapults and ammunition would be replenished, and soldiers would be taught how to use them.

"What kinda war are you expectin', princess?" the blacksmith asked, half-joking as he hammered away at a breastplate.

"I'm not sure," Zelda answered. "But I plan to find out."

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The palace infirmary was nearly silent as she walked the halls, dress swishing around her legs. The healers were hardly needed during peacetime. Zelda passed by a room occupied by a coughing servant, another by a soldier with a broken leg, and several empty rooms before she reached the door at the end of the hall.

Link barely glanced up as she entered his room. To Zelda's surprise, her Sheikah guardian was perched on a stool next to Link's bed. Before the door had even shut behind her, Impa stood and stepped away from the stool. "Think about what I said," she said grimly to Link, then brushed past Zelda out into the hall.

"What was that about?" Zelda asked as she settled herself on Impa's stool.

"Nothing," Link said with a shake of his head. It had been three days since his fight, most of which he had slept through. The poison was finally flushed out of system, and the color had returned to his skin. He was a fast healer, but it would still be a while before he was back on his feet.

"How did it go with the king?" Link wondered.

She sighed, wondering how to break this to him. She knew he was going out of his mind with worry about the monster army. "It…didn't go well," she said quietly in her gentlest voice. "You know better than anyone that he's never had faith in my visions. And when I told him what happened to you…he didn't believe me."

"_What?_" Link exclaimed. He shot up in bed, then flinched and clutched at his wounded shoulder. "Why didn't he believe you?"

Zelda bit her lip. "That's not important. I've already—"

"_Why didn't he believe you_?" he repeated, and it was the intensity of his tone that made Zelda answer.

"He thinks that you dreamed it. Or imagined it. Or…" she trailed off when she saw the look on Link's face. He had gone pale, with wide eyes and lips parted in belief.

"Are you saying he thinks I'm crazy?" he whispered.

"I don't know what he thinks. But he doesn't know you. He just sees the surface. He knows about your nightmares, but he…he doesn't know what you went through. He doesn't understand."

"Of course he doesn't," Link said bitterly, turning his face away. "No one does."

"But I want to," Zelda said softly. She reached for his hand; he pulled away. She pressed her lips together.

"Can I…be alone?" he asked, his voice hitching and wavering. It had a ragged edge to it that she had heard many times before.

Zelda nodded, her skirts rustling as she stood. Her hands itched to reach for him, but she kept them clenched at her sides.

The door slid shut behind her, leaving him in darkness.

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	6. stars in the sky

**notes 1: **Thanks so much for all the reviews! You guys are all really cool : )

**notes 2: **I didn't really expect to write the POV of anyone other than Link and Zelda, but I thought it'd be fun to write Impa cause she's a badass.

**disclaimer:** Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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><p>.<p>

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Night fell in the mining camp as the last sliver of sun sank below the horizon. The air was heavy with humidity, the chirping of insects, and the voices of the workers scattered amongst the tents. The camp was in the shadow of a rock formation that housed the mine, to the south of Lon Lon Ranch. About twenty men and women with hard muscles and grimy clothes gathered around the campfires after a hard day's work, cooking their supper and laughing.

To the untrained eye, it looked as though nothing was wrong. But a mole planted within the miners' ranks had confirmed a month-old suspicion: the silver mine was merely a front for banditry and illegal drug trade.

Impa curled her fingers around the hilt of her dagger and beckoned her soldiers forward. She commanded a small, elite force of skilled warriors trained in the shadow arts of the Sheikah. Though she was the last true Sheikah, she had taught her warriors to match her in skill even if not in blood. They carried out stealth missions as ordered by the princess, though of course the king knew nothing of the matter.

Impa gave a series of silent hand motions that meant: _Attack on my signal._ They all knew their orders already—they were to attack and capture the bandits, killing only if necessary, and put a stop to the operation. Then they would take the criminals back to the castle to await justice under the crown. She raised an open hand, then began counting down finger by finger. _Five. Four. Three. Two—_

Before she reached _one_, something stopped her. A strange tentacle-like tendril of shadow, almost invisible at night, was weaving its way through the tents and towards the miners, who were too absorbed in their drinking song to notice. Impa signaled her soldiers to hold as she watched it intently. A strange breeze swept over them, carrying a thick, bitter scent on its breath. Still Impa waited as the tendril split into two, and the halves split to quarters, and the quarters split even more…

Suddenly shouts rang out through the camp as the shadows snapped around each bandit quick as a snake, tying their arms to their sides and their feet to each other like rope on a prisoner. The tendrils wrapped and wrapped until the bandits were mummified in shadows. Impa watched as their forms began to stretch or shrink or widen. All the while the bandits screamed and screamed, until their voices were no longer human.

Finally the shadows withdrew from the bandits, but they were not bandits anymore. They prowled the camp as Wolfos, Moblins, Stalfos, Poes—all of them transformed, all of them monsters. And instead of turning on each other as monsters should, they turned as one and began to head east.

_East, _Impa thought, and it all clicked together in her mind. _Kokiri Forest._

"Do we attack, ma'am?" asked her lieutenant, and she did not miss the fear in the faces of even her bravest soldiers.

"No," Impa replied grimly, glancing up at the castle silhouetted against the stars. "I must report to Princess Zelda."

They had made it three steps out of the camp when something cold and ethereal ghosted across Impa's shoulder. There was no hesitation in her movements when she slashed out with her dagger, slicing right through the shadow. It seemed to almost work as the tendril dissipated into the air, but after a moment it reformed and split to launch itself at Impa's soldiers. They all tried to fight, but their enemies were almost invisible and, it seemed, invincible. Out of the corner of her eyes, Impa saw the shadows drag down several of her soldiers, people who she had spent years teaching and befriending.

"Retreat!" she yelled. "Lieutenant, get them out of here! I'll catch up behind you!"

"But Commander—" the young man began to protest.

_"Go!" _Impa shouted with all the authority of the princess's famed warrior guardian. They obeyed. Impa pulled in a long breath, shut her eyes, and wrapped her fingers around the Shadow Medallion hanging on a chain around her neck, rubbing her thumb over the carvings in the center. She drew in the power of the night surrounding her: there was darkness in everything, and darkness gave her strength. Impa was the last remnant of the ancient Sheikah and she was Sage of the Shadow Temple—darkness harbored no threat to her. They would pay for the lives they had stolen.

Crimson eyes flew open, and Impa tore her enemies apart.

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Link breathed in deep and listened to the chirping of birds and the crunching of leaves under his boots. Two weeks after getting injured, the healers had finally let him out of the castle to go on a brief walk. The fresh air was bliss against his skin. Kokiri or not, Link was a child of the forest, and he was only at ease under the sky.

It would be a while before he could fight again, though he wore his sword at his hip anyway. He still wore bandages under his clothes. The arrow wound would take longer to heal, and he avoided using his injured left hand. But Link was tired of that sickroom and impatient to get out—the nightmares were strongest in the castle.

It only took him ten minutes to walk from Castle Town to Lon Lon Ranch. The stone gates greeted him on entry, as well as the warm scent of hay and livestock. Link nodded to Talon, who lazed on a bench outside the barn, and made his way out to the field. A tall girl perched on the paddock fence, long red hair swaying in the breeze. She hummed a familiar song as she watched the herd of horses graze.

"Malon…?" Link said experimentally. She was a dreamer with her head in the clouds, and sometimes she forgot to come back to earth.

Her head whipped around and she swung her legs over the fence, landing in the grass. "Fairy Boy!" she cried, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a tight embrace. "You're all right! I was so worried!"

"Yeah, I…ow. Malon, my shoulder's not healed yet."

Malon released him quick as a burn with a sheepish apology. Though she had forgotten the dark days of Ganondorf's reign just like everyone else, Link had still become good friends with her in this time. For some reason, she still called him Fairy Boy even though Navi was long gone.

"Are you recovering okay?" she asked, leaning back against the fence. "Besides the shoulder, I mean. What happened? When you got here there was so much blood…"

Link pressed his lips together and looked out at the herd of horses. The monster army was a conflict bigger than him, bigger than Zelda, bigger than Malon. He didn't want to get her involved. "I'm sorry I worried you. I can't tell you what happened…but I can thank you. You saved my life."

Malon colored slightly. "I didn't do much, really. You probably want to see Epona, huh?"

When Link nodded, she pushed off the fence and led him to the barn. "She's recovering surprisingly quickly, but she needs rest. I expect you do, too." Malon halted before she opened the door. "I wish you wouldn't do this," she said quietly. "Seeing both of you hurt…it's really scary. Why don't you stop fighting?"

It was a long time before Link found the words. When he did, they fell like wilting petals on a dying flower. "I'm sorry," was all he said, and then he pushed inside the barn. Fighting was in his veins. Fighting was the only thing that made him feel alive.

Epona stood in the back stall, neck lowered to chew on the hay piled in the corner. She raised her head as Link approached, ears pricking forward, and nickered as if greeting her boy. "Hey," he murmured as he reached a hand up to pet her, unlatching the stall gate with the other hand. Epona stepped forward and nudged her nose against his chest, blowing hot air down his shirt.

"Hey, beautiful girl," Link repeated, and buried his face in her mane.

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"This is very bad," Zelda said.

"I believe that's an understatement, Princess," Impa snorted.

"How many soldiers did you lose?"

"Five," Impa replied solemnly. "All monsters now."

Zelda pushed her chair back from her desk and stood, looking out the window of her private study. Her plans to make Hyrule safer were working, but it was not enough, especially not with the knowledge Impa had just brought her.

"My own people, turned into monsters and forced into an army." She turned back to look at the Sheikah. "My father _has _to take action on this."

Impa raised her eyebrows. "Your father is a stubborn fool," she said bluntly. "He may not be swayed, no matter what you say."

"I'm still going to try," Zelda answered. "I'm calling a royal council meeting in two days' time. And you and Link are going to be there."


	7. with fire and blood

**notes 1: **I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.

**notes 2: **I didn't proofread this because I want to go to bed. Hopefully there aren't too many spelling errors.

**disclaimer: **Zelda isn't mine, blah blah blah

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><p>.<p>

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"Her Highness Princess Zelda Nohansen, heir to the throne of Hyrule, accompanied by Link of Kokiri Forest and Lady Impa of the Sheikah Tribe."

The great doors to the council chambers swung open, hinges creaking. Link followed two paces behind Zelda, with Impa on his left side. The princess looked regal and beautiful in a gown of robin egg's blue silk, a snowy white cape gathered around her shoulders. Her tiara rested on her head, gold adorned with a single ruby in the center of her forehead.

Link's gaze darted around the council chamber. It was a large round room with stained glass windows high on the walls. A fountain adorned with a stone statue of the royal family crest trickled in the corner. There were representatives from almost every major settlement in Hyrule gathered at a table shaped like a crescent moon, with the king in the center. Link nodded to Darunia, chief of the Goron, who grinned in response. Princess Ruto, who represented the Zora in her lazy father's stead, gave him a flirtatious wink. Nabooru, standing for the Gerudo, waved at him. Impa was the ambassador from Kakariko. The rest of the council were strangers to Link, four Hylians who were the authority figures in their cities. The only race absent was the Kokiri, since they could not leave the forest and remained isolated from politics.

The king glowered as he watched his daughter proceed to the open area in the middle of the room, where all the council could see her. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he had a disapproving set to his mouth. He had not been happy with the council meeting, but it was Zelda's right as princess to call a meeting.

"My friends and allies," Zelda began, her voice ringing around the chamber. "I have called you here today to discuss a new threat that has risen before Hyrule. Both of my companions have witnessed events that we previously thought impossible. We have reason to believe that these events bode evil circumstances have come to our doorstep."

The council members shifted, glancing at one another and murmuring apprehensively. "Link," Zelda continued, "please tell the council what you saw."

Link swallowed nervously and faced the council. He spoke very little on a daily basis, and facing down a crowd of politicians intimidated him. Instead of looking at the king, he met his brother Darunia's ever friendly eyes and found his courage. "Over a fortnight ago I was investigating claims of monster activity in the northwestern Kokiri Forest," he said. His voice began quietly, then strengthened with the same resolve Zelda often showed. Perhaps it was a will shared by bearers of the Triforce. "I discovered a cave deep within the woods. Inside, I found monsters, thousands of them, gathered in one cavern. They were forging weapons and armor as if preparing for war. I have much experience in fighting monsters, and I know that they don't possess the intelligence needed to gather an army. Someone or something is controlling them, and it bears Hyrule no good intentions."

Link let out a breath and stepped back, ignoring the sweat beading on the back of his neck. "Thank you, Link," Zelda said, looking back at him. Her crystal blue eyes shone with some emotion Link couldn't quite place. There was gratitude, but also…awe? Pride? Before he could decipher it, she turned her head back to the council. "Impa, please recount your side of the story," Zelda said.

As Impa stepped forward brusquely and described what had happened to her and her soldiers, Link looked at the council. The king looked as grim and unreadable as ever. Link already knew that the king didn't believe his story, but Impa had served the royal family for years—surely her word meant something to him. The unfamiliar Hylian ambassadors looked doubtful and unconvinced; that was no surprise. The council members who knew and trusted Link—Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru—looked concerned.

Impa's story was no less disturbing the second time he heard it. The army was composed of people forced to change forms and fight as monsters. The creatures he fought when he came across the army had been human once, and he had killed them. He clenched his fingers into fists and imagined (for the hundredth time) their blood coating his hands, soaking through his gloves, caking his skin. He had killed those he was sworn to protect.

A tense silence followed after Impa finished. The council whispered amongst themselves, casting sideways glances at Link and Impa. "Now that you have heard of these threats, I would hear what the council has to say," Zelda said.

Before anyone could speak, the ground suddenly lurched under their feet. Link stumbled, his hand going to the hilt of his sword instinctively. The walls of the palace rumbled and shook, causing the council members to cry out. "Everyone remain calm," the king called. "It is but a small earthquake; it will pass."

But it was not just an earthquake. The windows shattered, colorful bits of stained glass raining down on the room. Out of the corner of his eye Link saw Impa pulling out a dagger for each hand; he did the same for his sword. Shapes crashed through the windows with weapons in their hands and landed before the council with a grace and precision that no monster should have.

Zelda was unarmed but for the small knife she always kept strapped to her thigh. Without hesitation Link pulled the bow and quiver off his back and threw them to her. She caught them with a grateful nod. Even though she had not learned the ways of the Sheikah in this life, she could hit a target better than he could, though she had not been tested in combat.

Once again, the earth bucked underneath them. Link looked to the council and saw that the three Sages stood before the defenseless Hylian ambassadors. Nabooru had her dual swords drawn; all Darunia needed was his fists. Link was not surprised to see the water burst from the fountain in the corner to crash into an enemy; Ruto, Sage of Water, smiled with a vicious sort of excitement.

Hearing a cry, Link turned to see the king topple out of his chair, trying to get away from the armored mass approaching him. Link darted forward and vaulted over the table, landing between the Iron Knuckle and the king. Link met the monster's huge double-bladed axe with his sword, steel clashing against steel with a noise that sounded disturbingly like a scream. He gritted his teeth as his unhealed shoulder ached in protest, but he kept pressing his blade against the Iron Knuckle's. Was he fighting one of his own people?

Behind him, the king watched the boy. He watched the strength and grace in his movements as the monster broke off, pulling its axe away and swinging it around for a second blow. The Kokiri danced away, letting the axe slam into the floor and jumping in to slash at the gaps in the creature's armor. He did not seem to notice the blood that was beginning to seep through the back of his tunic, or the tremors of the ground. His face was determined and focused, and the king could see that he took no pleasure in what he was doing. He looked very young.

But more than anything, the king watched the warm glow that the boy's hand emitted, even through his gloves: three triangles interlocked, the right one solid. Sixteen years disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the king was not in the council chambers but standing at his wife's bedside. Her eyes were closed and a smile lit her lips, but her chest did not rise. The bedsheets were soaked with blood. The queen's handmaidens sobbed into each other's shoulders. His grief was not pain or rage—it was only emptiness, stabbing at a void in his middle. The midwife handed him a bundle, and a shock of blond hair and blue eyes gazed up at him—the baby had taken after her mother. A tiny, chubby hand wrapped around his finger, and he saw the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom upon his daughter's soft skin.

Sixteen years. What had changed? The king turned away from the boy, and his eyes fell on Zelda. She was nocking another arrow to her bowstring and taking aim at a Redead; the arrow struck its skull. She was so strong, just like her mother.

She had always been so strong.

The moment Link thrust his sword through the Iron Knuckle and watched it blow away as smoke, laughter boomed around him—raucous, screeching, impossibly loud. The earth trembled. Terror filled him. Link knew that laughter. He knew.

There was a shape floating above all the rest of them—a very small shape, and yet the monsters in the room dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. It was heart-shaped, with cruel sharp spikes jutting out of the edges, and a dark purple deep as twilight. But it was the eyes that frightened him the most: they glared red and yellow and green like acid, and they hated.

_No_, Link thought. _No, no, no, no._

Majora's Mask laughed and laughed, and the earth shook, and castle began to give out. The plaster cracked, and rubble began to rain down on them. Link turned, sword in hand, just in time to see part of the ceiling crash down on the king.

"_Father!_" Zelda screamed, and the sound cut into Link's heart like a knife. She was running towards him, her dress a torn and ruined mess. The bow was still clenched tight in her hand. Half the ceiling had given way to reveal a cloudless blue sky; dust choked the air. Zelda threw herself at the rubble, fingers scrabbling to pull away the stones in an attempt to free the king.

But Link saw the blood pooling under the wreckage and felt very cold. No one could lose that much blood and live. Above them, Majora's Mask was laughing.

Link went to Zelda and pulled her away gently, taking her hands in his, though she struggled against him. Her eyes were shining, wild, and furious. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and he was: there was horror and guilt clashing together in his mind. "He's gone."

She shook her head, and the tears spilled over. She reached a hand back and grasped an arrow, nocked it to her bowstring, and drew. Her aim was perfect—the arrow flew and struck Majora's Mask, but it merely laughed. Then shadows like tentacles twisted and spun around it until it was encapsulated, and then it was gone along with the rest of the monsters.

Zelda's legs gave out. Link caught her and lowered her to the ground carefully; she was trembling, and he didn't know how to stop it. All he could do was pull her against him and rock her as she began to sob.

And even though the mask was gone, its laughter still echoed in his head.

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	8. glass houses

**notes 1: **pLOT? what's a PLOT?!

**notes 2: **no, but seriously, I promise this fic has an actual storyline. actual things will happen. they're coming.

**disclaimer: **not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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Zelda had never liked wearing black.

_It is such a drab color_, she reflected dully as she stared at her expression in the mirror. Her handmaidens fussed around her, straightening her clothes and hair or dabbing at her makeup. Her mourning dress was soft black velvet embroidered with silver thread over a silk undergown. Pearls adorned her neck and ears; black velvet gloves stretched to her elbows. Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders in waves the color of wheat.

Zelda felt nearly naked without the familiar weight of the princess's tiara on her head. It was locked away in the vault now, where no one would touch it but the occasional dusting servant until Zelda had a daughter. Today, she would receive a new crown.

Her handmaidens stepped away, finally done, and admired their work with hushed awe. They were twin sisters in their mid-twenties, dark-haired and dark-eyed, who had been with Zelda since she was young. "It is a shame you must be crowned in so soon after the king's death," one said, patting her arm sympathetically.

"All the same, you look like a true queen now, Your Majesty," the other said with wonder.

"Oh, don't call me that," Zelda said, braving a smile. "I know it's my official title, just—please. You two changed my diapers and dried my tears. At least call me 'my lady' if you won't use my name."

Before either sister could respond, there was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," Zelda called, and Impa stepped in quietly as the handmaidens gathered their things and left.

"You've been groomed for this for sixteen years," Impa said in her usual blunt manner. "Are you ready?"

Zelda let out a breath and finally turned from the mirror to face her guardian. "Is there a right answer to that?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself in hopes that it would warm her. There seemed to be a chill deep in her bones, one that had not left since her father's death three days ago. They had buried him yesterday morning, and Zelda had watched the dirt pile up on his coffin with a blank stare. She had only cried for him once; now it seemed all her tears were dried up. She wondered if that was because she was strong or because she was empty.

"I am as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," she said.

Impa smiled. Her smiles were always brief and rare, disappearing almost as soon as they arrived. "Then you are already wiser than most."

Zelda gave up on trying to warm herself and let her arms dangle by her sides. She crossed the room to look out the window—at the green meadow scattered with trees, at Castle Town bustling with repairs from the earthquake, and beyond it, the long stretch of Hyrule Field.

"He was a horrible father," she heard herself saying. "He spent my whole life letting other people raise me for him. Yet…he was happier, I think, before my mother died. And he was a good king. I loved him." She looked back at Impa, blue eyes hard and bright. "The…the thing that controlled those monsters and started the earthquake…I want it stopped, Impa. And I want to find a way to turn our people back to normal."

Impa stepped forward and took her princess's hand. "I will see it done," she said fiercely. She hesitated, then said, "Sixteen years I have raised you, protected you, watched you grow up. You will be a good queen, Zelda. And I will follow you, always."

Zelda gave her a wordless smile of gratitude, and squeezed her hand.

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"From this day until the end of her days she shall serve as the rightful queen of Hyrule, hand of the Golden Goddesses and protector of the nation. She will serve the people and the land, enforce the justice of the crown…"

Link hardly listened to the steward's long speech—his mind was far away, with Majora's Mask and the man who was supposed to be its guardian. Termina was supposed to be the end of it, the mask salesman had_ promised_—

He bit the inside of his cheek and shoved those thoughts away. Now was not the time. He turned his gaze to Zelda as she knelt before the steward. The nobles were spread beneath the dais, and beyond them the people of Castle Town. Royal coronations were usually held inside the palace hall, but the damage dealt by the earthquake caused the ceremony to be moved outside.

At last, the steward placed the crown on Zelda's head. It was a delicate, beautiful thing of golden vines, decorated with the likeness of each Spiritual Stone. Zelda rose, chin high and shoulders strong, and turned to look upon her people. One by one, they fell to their knees.

"I now name you Queen Zelda of Hyrule," the steward announced. "Long may you reign!"

The crowds rose up and cheered, joyously greeting their new queen.

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He found his way to her quarters after the coronation feast. It was not exactly proper for the unmarried queen to allow a man into her rooms after dark, but neither of them were much in the habit of following customs.

Zelda opened the door herself at his knock. Dressed in a plain cotton gown, bereft of a crown or jewelry or makeup, she looked very little like a queen and very much like a scared young girl. Her skin was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, and Link wanted little more than to whisk her away on Epona and show her the beauty of the world.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," Zelda said softly, and opened the door wider to let him in. She sat in one of the armchairs by the fireplace, Link taking the seat opposite her.

"We haven't really gotten the chance to talk," he said, voice low. "The king…I should have saved him. I'm sorry."

Zelda shook her head, drawing her legs up to her chest and looking at the flickering flames. "It's not your fault." She fixed him with her gaze. "You knew what that _thing _at the council meeting was. I saw it in your face. Tell me everything you know, Link. We have to stop it."

Link drew in a deep breath and let it out. He had known this was coming. He had told no one of what had transpired in Termina; he simply didn't know where to start.

"After y—after the princess sent me back in time and we stopped Ganondorf, I…left. For a long time. Do you remember?"

She nodded, and the memory passed between them. He had been a strange combination of ten years old and sixteen, angry and confused. He had run away from her—the girl who he remembered that did not remember him. They had stood outside the gates of Hyrule Castle, where she had placed the Ocarina of Time in his hands and told him to come home safely.

And so the whole story came tumbling past his lips, sudden and unstoppable. His journey to the depths of the Lost Woods to find his lost guardian fairy. The Skull Kid wearing strange mask who had stolen Epona; his fairy companions, including the bad-tempered one who joined him. Meeting the Happy Mask Salesman and hearing the true nature of Majora's Mask. Finding a town on the doorstep of apocalypse that was still intent on living. Embarking on a journey and living the same three days over and over and over—three days that lasted an eternity full of death and hope. Freeing Skull Kid and returning Majora's Mask to its owner. And finally, stumbling back into his own world only to find that months had passed since he had fallen through that portal, and he still could not find Navi.

Zelda never looked away from him, though his eyes darted around the room the whole time—to the fire, the window, his lap, her face. His hands were trembling by the time he finished; Termina was not a part of his life that he liked to remember. He could not speak.

"It sounds like it was hell," Zelda said bleakly. Link nodded his agreement mutely. She stood and crossed to his chair, kneeling before him and lacing her fingers through his.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered at last. "Majora is back. I have no idea where the mask salesman is. I saved two worlds once, but that was a long time ago and I…I don't know if I can do it again, Zelda."

She said nothing in response; perhaps there were no words to fix what he had been through. Instead, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, threading gentle fingers through his hair.

Finally, her words came. "I know you can do it. Because you won't be alone. I'm coming with you."

This time, Link did not push her away.

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	9. stitches

**notes 1: **weehhhh sorry guys I've been pretty busy this past week.

**notes 2: **shoutout to Zarianwen, who has reviewed almost every chapter so far. You're the best, dude.

**notes 3:** I listened to the Game of Thrones soundtrack while writing this and I want to cry.

**disclaimer: **I don't own Zelda.

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><p>.<p>

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With a loud groan and a great deal of creaking, the drawbridge to Castle Town lowered inch by inch. The driver snapped the reins against the ox's neck and the cart rolled along, wheels rattling on the cobblestones. The muggy night air hung heavily around them, filled with the chirping of insects. The guards believed the wagon to be full of horseshoes, sent from the castle blacksmith to Lon Lon Ranch.

It was no easy business, smuggling a queen out of her castle. Link waved to the guards as the cart rumbled over the drawbridge and onto the dirt road, keeping the ox well in hand. The cart _was_ carrying horseshoes, and it _was_ going to Lon Lon Ranch; there was just a bit of extra cargo as well.

It had been a little over a week since the king's death—all the time they had allowed themselves. A week for Link's injuries to finish healing, and a week for Zelda to get the castle back in order after the attack. As far as the rest of Hyrule knew, it had been a simple earthquake. Only the two of them and the royal council knew what had truly transpired.

Impa would be ruling in Zelda's stead, though only a few people knew that the queen was gone. They had all protested, but she was the queen and had the willpower to match the title. '_What better way for the queen to serve Hyrule than to save it from evil?' _she had asked, and ended the conversation there.

Without incident, the cart rolled through the ranch gates as the rosy beginnings of dawn began to touch the eastern horizon. They halted before the barn, and Link hopped down from the driver's seat, movements fluid and quick. His injuries were all but scars now, and it felt good to be back to normal, though his shoulder still pained him from time to time. He pulled the cloth covering off the wagon. Zelda uncurled herself from the bed of the cart, sitting up to stretch stiff muscles.

"I never want to do that again," she grumbled, taking Link's offered hand and stepping down from the wagon. She was dressed in a long purple tunic over cream-colored leggings and brown riding boots; simple and functional, to avoid recognition. Her hair was pulled up in a long ponytail, and she held an unstrung bow along with a quiver of arrows on her back. Link suspected she had knives hidden in her clothing as well—Impa had trained her well.

Malon met them in the barn with two horses in tow. She greeted Zelda with a hug and a kiss on each cheek—the queen had made many friends while sneaking out of the palace as a mischievous princess. The ranch girl and Impa were the only ones in on their plan to get Zelda out of the castle unnoticed. Malon handed Epona's reins to Link, and gave the white gelding to Zelda.

"You two be careful, whatever you're doing. Watch out for each other," Malon said, glancing between them. "Though…I doubt that will be a problem," she added with a sly grin, then bounced away to tend to the chickens.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Link asked, dumbfounded.

Zelda shrugged, though Link saw that her cheeks were pink. She hoisted her pack onto her shoulders and mounted her horse Malon had picked out for her. Link followed suit on Epona, grateful to feel the reassuring steadiness of his mare underneath him again.

"I feel a bit like I'm running away," Zelda admitted as they rode through the gates. Her gaze was fixed longingly on Hyrule Castle, reminding Link of a different Zelda from a different time, garbed as a Sheikah with red eyes instead of blue. "I've only been queen for a week, and now I'm leaving."

Link halted Epona. "We can still turn back. I can do this by myself." The truth was that he was terrified, but dragging Zelda into the world of killing was not something he had ever wanted to do. Saving the world, fighting, killing—that all came ridiculously easy to him. What came after was not easy. He did not want her gentle heart to be tainted in the way his had been.

"But you don't have to anymore," Zelda reminded him softly, putting a gloved hand on his arm. "And I don't want you to." Her face had a stubborn, determined set to it that meant she would not be deterred. "My people smell dark tidings on the wind; they are frightened. So am I. But I live for them, and I will die for them if need be."

With that, she nudged her horse forward, the warmth of her fingers slipping from his arm. Link watched her go, thinking that maybe Zelda had been braver than him all along.

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By the time they reached Kokiri Forest, the sun had risen above the trees, casting a warm golden glow upon them. The horses' hooves clip-clopped across the wooden planks as they ducked under the hollowed tree trunk to enter the village.

"Will the Kokiri be all right with this?" Zelda asked quietly, guiding her horse to draw even with Epona.

Link shrugged. "The Kokiri are a peaceful people. They may not like it, but they won't hurt you, especially since I'm—"

He was cut short by a loud, incredulous screech. When Zelda looked for its source, she found a small scruffy blond boy blocking their path. He looked about ten and was clothed in green from head to toe. She noted the anger in his eyes and the exasperated sigh that came from Link.

"_What_ are you _doing_?!" he yelled, jabbing a grubby finger at Link.

"Mido, this is Queen Zelda, sole monarch of Hyrule," Link explained patiently. "She and I have business in the Lost Woods. We're just passing through."

"I don't care who she is! We don't allow strangers in the village!"

Link raised his eyebrows. "When did that happen? Last time I checked, the Deku Tree taught us how to be hospitable and kind, not rude."

"Taught _us_?!" Mido repeated, his face flushing red. "Last time _I_ checked, you aren't one of us, _Fairyless._"

Zelda saw the change in Link's face, then. It was in the way the mask slid over his face and turned him to stone—a lack of expression in place of a turmoil of emotions. Most would take it for apathy, but she knew him too well to believe that.

She dismounted and knelt before the Kokiri boy, who eyed her suspiciously. She doubted he had ever seen a full-grown woman before her—the forest children were not part of her realm and remained isolated from the other races. The other Kokiri were watching her warily, peeking out from behind buildings or trees.

They stayed children for their entire lives—in years, some of them could be far older than her, but in their hearts they were innocent. Zelda had heard enough from Link to know that the Deku Tree was like a father to all the Kokiri, but none of them had mothers. Zelda never had a mother either, but she had Impa, and that was close enough.

"You've done well to protect your home, Mido," she said, placing both hands on his shoulders and favoring him with a smile. "Now let Link and I take it from here. We both want to protect our home too—including your forest. Can we pass?"

Mido looked positively stunned, a blush creeping up on his freckled cheeks. Eventually, he gave her a nod, shooting a glance at Link. A barefooted girl came up to take her gelding's reins; they had decided against taking the horses into the Lost Woods. She thanked both of them, then followed Link up the winding path as the villagers watched them curiously.

They passed into the Lost Woods in silence. Zelda tried to read Link's expression, but his face remained impassive. Had she been wrong to defend him? He could speak for himself; he was no child.

"Princess, wait," he said as they came to the first clearing, where the path split into three. She turned, fingers tightening around her bow, and looked at him. He didn't seem to realize that her old title had rolled off his tongue.

"Thank you for what you did back there," Link said to his boots. "But you didn't have to."

"_Why?"_ Her voice cracked like a whip in sudden anger. He flinched, and Zelda bit her lip, cooling her temper until she could speak calmly. "Why do you have to do everything alone? Why won't you let anyone help?"

He was silent for a moment before he met her eyes, shaking his head. "Because no one ever _offered_, not since I was sent back in time. No one except you."

Zelda swallowed hard, and found her lips curving upwards. "Then that's a good thing, right?"

He smiled back—quietly, tentatively, but a smile nonetheless. "Yeah. That's a good thing."

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	10. crossing worlds

**notes 1: **A word about Majora's Mask. That thing _creeps me the hell out_, man. That's one of the reasons I decided to write this story. We know so little about Majora and the mask, only that it came from some ancient tribe who used it for hexes. And it's hanging_ on Link's wall _in A Link Between Worldslike a common decoration. WHY. I've always wanted to know more, so this fic is going to explore more about the history and origins of Majora's Mask.

**notes 2: **EVERY TIME I type Ganondorf's name I always want to spell it "Ganondork". it never fails to amuse me.

**disclaimer: **Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda.

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><p>.<p>

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Zelda shivered and kept her bow tight in hand as she watched the fog drift among the trees. She did not like this place; it made her feel drowsy and slow-witted, which was dangerous. Time seemed to pass strangely—had it only been one hour since they passed the Forest Temple, or several? There was no way to tell with the foliage blocking the position of the sun.

Link did not seem affected the way she was. He had always had killer instincts; perhaps they kept him alert. Or he had grown accustomed to the chill of the Lost Woods during his childhood in the forest. Zelda did not know, but she was grateful for it.

She looked down at her left hand, dwarfed by Link's gauntlets. Had she reached out first to lace their fingers together, or had he? She could not remember. A flash of green cut through the mist, and Zelda whipped her head around to look for it, but found nothing. A cold sweat trickled down her neck. Had it really been green, or was it gold? Yellow? Blue?

"_Zelda!_" a voice snapped, drawing her back into her own mind. She blinked furiously.

Link's hands gripped her by the shoulders; his face was drawn and worried. "What's wrong?"

Zelda shook her head as if to clear it. "I thought I saw something over there. This place is messing with my mind."

Link let out a breath. "Well, not anymore," he said, pointing at the hollow tree in the meadow before them that opened into a gaping black hole. "We're here."

"That's the portal to Termina?" Zelda asked, though she already knew the answer. Link nodded in response. He let go of her and crossed to the portal with Zelda following reluctantly behind. They stood beside each other on the edge and peered into to the gloom, and Zelda felt something like dread curl up in her chest.

Their hands found each other without question, and together they jumped into the abyss.

The pit of her stomach dropped as they plummeted into the gloom, but she couldn't find the breath to scream. At first, only darkness rushed past her; the shadows were so thick that she couldn't even see Link's figure beside her. Then light bloomed in the corners of Zelda's vision, blinding and furious, and she lost hold of Link's hand. Only silence answered when she called his name, and then she was falling alone.

Images raced through her mind too quickly to comprehend; voices overlapped in her ears, some familiar and some unknown. For an instant she was mighty with power but crippled by grief, holding the limp body of a hero in her arms. Then she was in the sky, fingers curled in the blue feathers of the giant bird she rode. She watched from frozen stone eyes as her best friend set off to save her. She donned the traditional dark garb of a Sheikah and sheathed a kunai at her hip.

It was all cut short when Zelda plunged headfirst into a river with an ungraceful splash. She struggled to get her bearings, kicking up towards the sunlight that filtered through the water. Her head finally broke the surface, and she gasped for breath, coughing and snorting out water. Finally strong hands lifted her by the armpits, hauled her out of the water, and set her down gently. Zelda pushed her dripping hair out her eyes to see Link kneeling before her, just as soaked as she was.

"Last time, I landed on a giant flower," he said with a wry smile, reaching up to take off his sopping hat and wring it out.

Zelda sighed exasperatedly and looked around. They had landed in a river deep within the walls of a canyon, its red clay gleaming in the sunlight. Link had pulled her up onto a wooden dock. She could see the colorful walls of a few buildings among the cliffs far above them; the only plants in sight were a few leafless trees and patches of dried-up grass. "I take it this wasn't where you landed last time?"

Link shook his head. "I know where we are, though. Ikana Canyon. It's not far to Clock Town from here."

While Link pulled off his boots to dump the water out of them, Zelda set down her bow—which she had somehow miraculously held onto—to peel off her gloves. She combed her hair with her fingers and wrung her clothes out as best as she could.

"Did you…see anything in the portal?" she asked tentatively after a stretch of silence.

Link looked alarmed. "What do you mean?"

Zelda dropped her gaze to her hands, turning them over in her lap, imagining them tanner and scarred and wrapped in bandages. "I saw visions. Scenes from lives that weren't mine, and yet…they _were._ They were memories, weren't they?"

Link looked at her closely, then gazed out across the canyon, his face unreadable. "Yeah," he agreed finally. "Memories."

"Do you see them too?"

He sighed. "They started as dreams, when I was little. When I started my quest, they changed. Sometimes I'd lapse into a memory that belonged to someone else, a long time ago. All I know is that the first time I held a sword…there was nothing more _right _in the world." He cleared his throat, looking away. "You used to see them too, before you forgot."

Zelda stared at the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom on the back of her hand. Evil would appear to take Hyrule. She would follow her head and not her heart to play a waiting game, buying as much time as she could for the hero. And Link would take up the burden of the world, caring for everything and everyone except himself. How many times had it repeated? How long would it continue?

_Forever_, whispered a voice in her head, and Zelda knew it was true. She, Link, even Ganondorf had always just been slaves to the cycle. In that moment she hated Hyrule and she hated the Goddesses, and there was bitterness coating her mouth.

"Did you…" Link began. "Did you see anything from before the other princess sent me back in time?" There was a sort of painful longing in his eyes.

"I think I remembered being Sheik, briefly," she admitted. For once, she couldn't meet his gaze. "But don't get your hopes up, Link. Please. I don't think it means very much."

It was in silence that they gathered their things and stood to head out of the valley. Zelda followed Link up the dock and down the rocky path. The sun beat down mercilessly, helping to dry their clothes and hair. They dashed through the path, dodging strange exploding boulder creature that reminded Zelda of Gorons. The land began to change after they climbed down a steep cliff face; bits of grass and flowers sprung up along the road.

Finally, a great field opened up before them. Trees and broken stone columns littered the area; it was not nearly as vast as her own Hyrule Field. Though Zelda had never seen Clock Town before, she recognized it immediately by the clock tower rising above the roofs, grand and colorful. She glanced up at the sky, trying to imagine those three days of neverending fear, the moon falling closer and closer every minute. Link's face was grim and sober; he had few pleasant memories of this place.

"Will the people here recognize you?" she asked as they walked.

He shrugged. "Maybe. They remember a ten-year-old. I've gotten a little taller."

Zelda snorted in an unladylike fashion. "A little taller" was an understatement; Link towered over practically everyone she knew.

"I'd rather they didn't, though," he added quietly.

"Why?"

"Every time someone calls me a hero," Link said blankly, "all I can think of is everyone I didn't save."

There was nothing Zelda could say to that. They had reached Clock Town, bustling with life and color. Five children formed a circle with their hands and danced around a decorated pole, their giggles ringing through the buildings. A group of mothers gathered at a pool to wash their laundry and exchange gossip. People hurried around carrying groceries or packages or babies; chickens clucked in a nearby pen. There was the sound of someone strumming a lute, and a lightness in the air that spoke of the joy that came from peacetime. Zelda felt a yearning in her gut, wishing that she could provide her people with the same certainty.

"We should split up," Link suggested. "Ask around about the Happy Mask Salesman. We'll cover more ground separately than together. Meet me at the clock tower in an hour."

Zelda agreed and they went their separate ways. She asked nearly every person she came across—a pair of old men playing poker under a tree, the woman she bought a potato pasty from, a man selling spiced wine on the street. None of them had ever heard of any Happy Mask Salesman, although a few recalled the fairy kid who had saved them all using the very masks she spoke of.

Eventually, she wandered into the park that occupied the northern part of Clock Town, where a few children played on the slide and a man threw a stick for his dog. She questioned the children and the dog owner to no avail. Just as Zelda was turning to leave, a flash of red caught her eye. She looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun, to see a very strange sight: a small men dressed in green was floating from a giant red balloon.

She was not sure what inspired her then—perhaps there was still a spark of mischievous princess left inside the wise queen—but Zelda strung her bow, nocked an arrow and took aim at the balloon. A loud _pop_ echoed through the clearing, and with a great deal of squealing and flailing, the man in green landed in the dirt at her feet.

"Hello," she greeted as she bent to pick up the arrow from the ground and return it to her quiver.

The man groaned and rubbed his head. He had a pinched red face under a ridiculous pointed hood, and he smelled awful. "Why'd you do that?" he whined.

"I was wondering if you might answer some questions of mine. Who are you?"

The man hopped to his feet with an agility that surprised her. "I am the great Tingle! I am a fairy from the forest."

Zelda raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down. He was most definitely _not_ a fairy, but she wasn't going to be the one to tell him that. "Well, Tingle," she said sweetly, "You seem like a smart fellow, up in the air on your great balloon. You must know a lot of things. So tell me: do you know where the Happy Mask Salesman is?"

Tingle narrowed his eyes and squinted up at her, his face turning down into a frown. "Why, haven't you heard? The Happy Mask Salesman is dead."

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	11. white knuckles

**notes 1: **it may have occurred to some of you that Link has been acting very weak, very on-edge these past few chapters. Actually for this entire fic, I guess. You should know that this is on purpose. You have to hit bottom before you can rise to the top.

**notes 2: **this is a short chapter, I know. I'll hopefully be posting another one by monday.

**notes 3: **I CAN'T STOP HICCUPING SEND HELP

**disclaimer:** Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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><p>.<p>

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"This can't be true," Link insisted.

Zelda shrugged, running a hand through her hair. "It's what Tingle told me. Then he ran off before I could catch him."

Link shoved off the stone base of the clock tower and began to pace. It wasn't as if he grieved for the Happy Mask Salesman—they weren't exactly friends. But that he was dead was almost unbelievable. He had seemed immortal, untouched by the troubles of both Hyrule and Termina. And more importantly, he was supposed to be the keeper of Majora's Mask.

"The mask must have killed him," he said, feeling a sick twist in his gut. It was all too much—the return of his most frightening nemesis, the fate of its owner, coming back to this damn town that had haunted him in his dreams since he was ten. He felt helpless to stop it all.

"Link," Zelda interrupted, taking hold of his arm to halt his pacing. "Think. If we can't ask the mask salesman, who else would have the answers we need?"

"I don't know," he said uncertainly. "I don't know anything about Majora's Mask other than what he told me, but even that might not be true. He lied about the evil leaving the mask forever." His thoughts drifted briefly to the Skull Kid and his fairy companions, but he was certain that none of them would have anything to do with the mask after what had happened. Unless…

"The giants!" Link said suddenly. "Maybe they would know."

"The giants?" Zelda repeated.

"The ones who held up the moon so I had enough time to fight Majora. They're old as Termina itself. They must know something. Come with me."

They made their way to the long ladder that led up to the top of the clock. Link remembered climbing this tower the first time, Tatl hovering beside him, the moon crashing down above them. Now, it was only the setting sun that greeted him as he hoisted himself up onto the roof and pulled Zelda up behind him.

He pulled the Ocarina of Time out of his belt pouch, rubbing his thumb over its smooth blue surface. It had been a long time since he'd used it. "You know, if you hadn't left this with me, I wouldn't have been able to save Termina," he said, looking up at Zelda. "I would have died along with the rest of them." He looked out at Clock Town spread out below them. Laughter and music and the scent of baking bread wafted up even to the top of the tower. It was times like this that he understood his role; he understood that it was worth tearing himself apart to protect these precious lives. Every second of it was worth it.

"Then I'm glad I entrusted it to you," Zelda said quietly, following his gaze.

Link nodded and put the Ocarina to his lips. It had been years, but he remembered the song nevertheless. The low, deep notes of the Oath to Order rang out across the town, and the wind carried the melody away. It rolled over all of Termina—one hundred steps north, one hundred steps south, one hundred steps east, one hundred steps west. And when the song ended, the giants came from each corner of the land, silhouetted against the sunset sky. The earth underneath them rumbled with their strength, and the people of the town grew silent as they watched their guardians approach. The four figures grew larger and closer until they loomed just outside the walls of Clock Town, massive and bearded with eyes dark with knowledge.

"Great ones," Link called, raising his voice and drawing himself up to his full height. "I have called you seeking your help, as I once did six years ago. The same evil that threatened Termina then now threatens Hyrule, my home."

He watched the giants, hoping they would understand. He had never heard them speak, only sing; he had no idea if they even knew his language. They shifted and looked at one another, though their faces remained impassive. And then, they began to speak.

"_Hero of Time_," they said in four great booming voices joined together as one. "_You first came as a child and freed us from our prisons so we might aid you as you saved our world. You have returned as a man. A debt is owed. Ask us what you will."_

"Majora's Mask has attacked Hyrule," Link said. "It turned our people into monsters, enslaving them in order to build an army. How do we track it down? How do we save our people? How do we stop it?"

There was a long stretch of silence. Zelda came to stand beside him, their shoulders brushing together. Link's fingers closed around the Ocarina of Time, and once again the giants spoke.

_"Return to that which sent you home. Join together the one halved by time. Ease the anger of earth and breath and justice. Remember the old way. Find the three who were once five. Remember. Remember."_

And without another word the giants turned and began to walk away—one hundred steps north, one hundred steps south, one hundred steps east, one hundred steps west. "Wait!" Link shouted, running to the edge of the tower. "What does that mean? Come back!" But either they didn't hear, or they chose not to reply. They could cover a mile with each footstep; he and Zelda had no hope of catching up to them. Even if they could, he doubted they would give a coherent answer. He kicked the parapet of the roof in frustration.

"It was a riddle," Zelda said calmly behind him. "I happen to be very good at riddles."

Link turned to look at her. She _was _the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom. "So you know what it means?"

"Not all of it," she admitted, letting her arms dangle in from of her and clasping her hands together. "I'll need time to ponder the whole thing, but the first two lines? Easy. I don't know who those giants think they're fooling."

Link watched disappearing shapes of the giants on the horizon. The sun was sinking below the trees to the west, turning the sky rosy pink and pale orange. "_Return to that which sent you home," _he repeated. _"Join together the one halved by time."_ He wasn't particularly good at riddles, but he was afraid he knew what those words meant.

"You already know, don't you?" Zelda said softly as she joined him on the tower's edge. There was fear in her voice. "We have to go forward in time. We have to find the _other _Zelda."

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	12. just close your eyes

**notes 1: **I am going back to hell to school tomorrow, so updates might be less regular since I'll be busier. But I'll do my best.

**disclaimer: **yeah, not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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That night, Link dreamed of a future he had left behind.

_He stumbled out of the Temple of Time, limbs too long, shoulders too broad, not himself but someone else, someone older. The Master Sword hummed in his hand as if welcoming him. The horde of Redeads screamed awake, shuffling towards him on stiff decaying feet. Navi hung beside him, uncharacteristically silent. The market had been bright and busy when he had seen it last; now it was shrouded in darkness. Hyrule Castle—Ganondorf's Castle—loomed before him, the final trial for which he was not yet ready. The zombies surged forward, slapping cold hands on his skin, sinking razor-teeth into his chainmail, and all around him was the scent of death—_

_ Link had thought Kokiri Forest was safe from evil, but monsters stalked among the trees all the same. The forest children hid among the leaves, calling him "stranger" and "outsider". He found his house covered in dust and infested with mice, the bed much smaller than he remembered. And all he could think was that this was not his time—_

_ With all his strength behind the blow, he thrust the Master Sword through Ganondorf's heart. The Gerudo King choked and gasped, and Link watched his greatest enemy's lifeblood run down the blade, sinking through his gloves, turning the green tunic crimson. Link made a sound that was half laughter and half sobbing, and then the princess grabbed his arm. The castle collapsed around them, and Zelda pulled him along through fire and monsters with the warm swirl of her magic in the air. But even when they finally reached the open air, Ganondorf rose again—_

Finally, finally, an open palm slapped his cheek, stinging enough to wake him up. His eyes flew open and his left hand stretched out, reaching for the Master Sword. His fingers wrapped around the hilt, but it did not hum under his palm. _"Link!" _a voice cried, and reality slid into place. His eyesight focused on a lit candle placed on the bedside table. His breath heaved in his chest as if he had just won a battle.

Something dripped onto his face and rolled down his cheek. He tasted salt on his lips: tears, but not his own. _I've made her cry again, _he thought, and hated himself for it.

"Talk to me," Zelda said softly. She pried his hands open, probing at the crescent-shaped wounds left on his palms by his fingernails. There was blood caked on his hands, warm and sticky, but he hardly felt the pain.

"Zelda," he managed hoarsely. His throat felt raw from screaming—he had probably woken up all of Stock Pot Inn. Zelda wiped at the silent tears rolling down her cheeks and reached for the pitcher of water on the nightstand. Her hair was in one long braid slipping over her shoulder, and she wore a white sleeveless nightgown. The door that led to her adjoining room was ajar; she must have come running when she heard him yelling.

"What was the nightmare about?" she asked as she poured water onto a strip of cloth and began cleaning the blood from his hands. This had been an old routine for them, back at Hyrule Castle.

"Waking up in the future," Link said bleakly, sitting up and kicking away the blankets. "Killing Ganondorf." Same old, same old. He'd been dreaming of those days for years.

"You saved Hyrule," Zelda reminded him gently. "It wasn't all for nothing."

"He's the one who haunts me the most," he admitted. "He wasn't even the first human I killed. There were bandits who attacked me on the road, criminals who I stopped from hurting innocents…but I don't remember them the way I remember him."

She let out a breath and cut a strip of bandage to wrap around one of his hands. "You're so brave, you know," she murmured. Link let out a strange, breathy laugh. He didn't feel very brave. "I don't think you realize how brave you are. After all that's happened, you keep going. I wish I had that kind of courage."

If only she remembered who she really was: a queen, a Sheikah, the leader of the sages. Her patience and intelligence had once held together a dying Hyrule. _Join together the one halved by time, _the giants had said. Link couldn't even begin to sort out how he felt about that.

"I don't think this is a good idea," he said. "Going to the future again. The flow of time shouldn't be altered. The Goddesses don't like it."

"I'm sure the Goddesses will understand that we're trying to save Hyrule," Zelda replied as she cut another strip of bandage.

"Are you sure you want to remember all of it?"

Her hands froze, his cuts halfway bandaged. She looked up to meet his gaze and held it for a long moment. Then she dropped her eyes back to her work and tied the bandage.

"Zelda, listen to me," Link pleaded, taking her hands in his. "I slept through those seven years under Ganondorf's reign. Yes, I fought, and yes, I ended the war. And you can see what it did to me. But you…the other you _lived _every second of it. She had to go into hiding and watch her kingdom crumble. She spent all that time in the shadows, making sure there was still a Hyrule left to save when I woke up. It…wasn't a good time for any of us."

"What are you saying?" Zelda whispered.

"I'm saying that some things are better left forgotten."

She stared at him, eyes wide, pressing her lips together. Several moments ticked by before she responded. "I can't decide anything until we find out what's going on."

"I understand. Just, please…consider what I've said."

She stood up, brushing her dress off, and glanced out the window. "It's almost dawn. We should get ready to leave." She walked towards the door that led to her room, bare feet padding against the stone floor. A shadow in the corner of the room shifted.

There was a wet tearing sound, and Zelda let out a gasp.

Link didn't yell her name. He didn't think. He just moved. He leaped out of bed in time to catch her before she fell, lowering her to the floor. Her dress was already slick with blood; her hands were clutched over the knife buried deep between her ribs. Her breath rattled in her chest—it sounded like the blade had punctured a lung.

Link's head snapped up as he heard the footsteps. His spare hand reached for his sword. He found the hilt and drew it from the scabbard, searching for his enemy. "Stay with me," he told Zelda, desperation cracking his voice. Her eyes were open but fading. Carefully, he lifted her and placed her on the bed as gently as possible. His shield leaned against the wall, but he didn't think he could reach it. He stepped away from the bed, his heart hammering like a battle drum in his chest.

A shape finally loomed out of the darkness, a knife in each hand, long limbs dangling like a spider. He was a Hylian. The candlelight danced on his pointed elfin features; his hair was orange, cut close to his head. His skin was as pale as death, and his eyes were empty. Revulsion crept up Link's spine, and he felt very cold and very afraid.

The Happy Mask Salesman leaped at him with knives flashing through the air. Link sidestepped the lunge and swung his sword down, feeling it cut through cloth and skin and sinew. His opponent's arm thudded to the floor, but there was no blood and no customary cry of pain. Link blocked the next swing with his blade, then forced the knife away and thrust his sword through the Happy Mask Salesman's belly.

This time, there was hesitation. Link pulled his sword out and kicked the dead man away, but still he did not fall. By now, Link was backed up against the wall, fighting mere feet from where Zelda lay bleeding on the bed, curled up around the knife in her body. An idea struck him, and his hand found the candlestick on the nightstand.

The salesman flew at him, and Link threw himself forward, throwing the candlestick. The knife sliced his arm, but he ignored the pain. His enemy's clothes caught on fire, and soon Link was inhaling the scent of burning flesh. The Happy Mask Salesman dropped to the floor and did not move again.

Link's sword clattered to the ground, forgotten. "_Zelda,"_ he said frantically, rushing to the bed and dropping to his knees. There was so much blood. Her eyes were open, but her breaths were growing weaker by the minute. "Hold on," he pleaded, rolling her over onto her back. He tore a long strip from the bed sheet, then grasped the hilt of the knife and _pulled_. Zelda's scream made his heart twist, but he never hesitated. Link flung the knife away and wrapped the torn sheet around Zelda's torso.

He stood and lifted her, one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders. Her limbs dangled in the air limply like she was already dead. Link shoved through the door and stumbled down the stairs, breaking into a sprint when he got out of the inn.

"Link?" Zelda murmured weakly. One of her blood-caked hands somehow found his face. Her eyes were half-open, but even in the darkness they were very blue.

"I'm taking you to the Great Fairy," he said, voice unsteady. He wasn't even sure if she could understand. "She'll help you, I know she will—just stay with me, Zelda, _please…_"

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him—up the stairs, past the looming shape of the clock tower, out into the grassy field. The rocky path was sharp against his bare feet, but Link paid it no mind. His vision was blurred with what could only be tears.

Finally, he made it through the entrance of the Great Fairy's cave. He stumbled down the steps into the circle of arched columns, stepping into the ankle-deep water. Carefully, he laid Zelda down in the fountain and watched her blood pool in the water, floating away in red wisps.

The water stirred, and laughter exploded in the chamber as the Great Fairy burst up from the fountain, red hair streaming behind her. Link stood to look up at her.

"So the kind young hero has returned," she crooned, floating above him. "And this time he is not alone."

"Please, heal her," Link said, panic in his voice. "She's going to die…she _can't _die. Please."

The Great Fairy held up a hand to interrupt him. "The savior of Termina need not beg. As you once restored my broken body, I will restore hers." She lifted her arms, and an orb of light formed between her fingers. It drifted down to Zelda and sunk into her skin, weaving around her in ribbons, encapsulating her. Link watched the flesh of her wound knit together and felt profound relief sink into his bones. The fairies had saved his life countless times during both his adventures, and now they had saved Zelda's.

"Thank you," he said, and truly meant it. He and Zelda both owed her a debt that could never be repaid. The Great Fairy gave him a nod and a wink, and disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Link lifted Zelda out of the water and placed her on top of the steps. Her eyes were closed, but her chest rose and fell steadily, not the ragged breaths of a punctured lung. _Alive. _He squeezed his eyes shut and let the tears fall. With nothing else to do but wait, he sat down next to Zelda and took her hand in his.

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Zelda drew in a long, deep breath, and opened her eyes. Her dreams had begun harshly, full of danger and fear, but ended gently with the calm lulling sounds of water lapping up against stone. She began to stir slowly—wiggling her toes, stretching her legs, opening and closing her fingers. She felt stiff and heavy, but there was no longer any pain. Though from the blood staining her dress, she could tell there had been a great deal.

Her gaze shifted, and she found Link staring at her wide-eyed as if he could not quite believe she was real. For a long time, neither of them could find the words to say.

For once, Link was the first one to speak. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," Zelda breathed, smiling.

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	13. pour on a little salt

**notes 1: **sorry this took so long! I'll try to get another one out before the weekend ends.

**notes 2: **so, if we were pretending this story has 'arcs' like a manga…this chapter is simultaneously the end of the first arc and the beginning of the second. I expect there will be a total of 4-6 arcs, all of varying length. I'm excited to share the rest of the story with you guys!

**notes 3: **my headcanon is that the Lost Woods never change, no matter the season or what's going on outside. They're eternal. Keep that in mind while you read this chapter.

**disclaimer:** Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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><p>.<p>

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They stood side by side, staring silently at the pile of ashes on the floor. They had caused quite a stir at the inn; Zelda had paid Anju triple for all the trouble, though they had left out the part about a dead man coming to attack them.

She pressed a hand to her abdomen, feeling the rough scar tissue through her tunic. Though the wound was healed, she could not quite forget the sight of cold steel buried in her flesh. From the way his hand never left his sword hilt, she could tell that Link hadn't forgotten, either. She had scrubbed the blood from her skin and burned the stained dress, but somehow it was not enough.

"You're sure he was dead?" Zelda asked finally, breaking the silence.

"What else could he be?" Link replied. "His skin was cold. He didn't bleed. He was already decaying." He shook his head as if he didn't believe his own words. "I stabbed him through the belly and he didn't die."

"So the mask killed him, and brought him back to life," Zelda said dully. "Or _something _brought him back to life." She tried to wrap her mind around it. There were so many questions and not nearly enough answers.

"We should go," she said. _Return to that which sent you home. _The doors of time had been closed six years ago, after Ganondorf's defeat. The only way to open them was with the power of all seven sages combined, and for that they had to go home. Though they had both hoped that Termina would have the answer they sought, Zelda was glad to be leaving. She felt out of place here in this strange world full of reflections of her own people, and she wasn't used to being gone for so long. She was sure Link felt the same way; she often caught him glancing up at the sky nervously, as if waiting for the moon to fall again.

"Wait," Link said just as she was turning to pack the rest of her things. Link bent over and drew something out of the ashes, holding it out to her.

It was a small golden spike, flat on one end and pointed on the other. It was wooden, the paint chipped and scratched in some places. Zelda felt as if the air shifted when she took it in her hands, becoming heavy and oppressive. It felt evil. "What _is_ this?" she said breathlessly.

"A piece of Majora's Mask," Link answered grimly. "The Happy Mask Salesman had it."

Zelda swallowed hard. Had this piece, a single tiny piece, had brought a man back from the dead? What could the mask do at its full power? The thought made her all the more eager to return to Hyrule. She handed it back to Link silently.

After packing all their belongings and giving Anju a final apology, they left Clock Town and made the trek to Ikana Canyon, where the portal had left them. Clouds blanketed the sky and blocked the sun, threatening rain.

"You should know something," Link said as they walked, "Even though we've only been here for two days, it could be that we were away much longer in Hyrule. Time passes differently here."

That made Zelda pause. What if some catastrophe had befallen Hyrule while they were gone, without its hero and its queen to protect it? "How much time passed there when you first came to Termina?"

Link bit his lower lip, thinking. "I don't really know," he admitted. "Months? A year? When I finally went back to the forest, Saria was shocked to see me. 'It's been so long', she said. And…" He trailed off, shaking his head.

"And?" Zelda prompted.

He sighed. "The first thing I noticed was that Epona had grown. And _I_ had grown. That was when the Kokiri figured out that I was no Kokiri. I was much taller than any of them had ever been, and I…didn't have a fairy anymore."

Zelda knew very little of her young neighbors in the south, only what Link had told her. They couldn't leave the forest, and travelers rarely had cause to come to them. She could only guess what having a fairy would mean. "They didn't…send you away, did they?" she asked gently, not wanting to believe it.

"For a time, they did," Link said, his voice empty of feeling. "Saria wouldn't let them keep me away forever."

Zelda stared at the road ahead of them blankly, though there was rage seething in her bones. "I thought the Kokiri were peaceful," she said numbly. "Gentle."

"Oh, they are. But they're also children, and children can be cruel." He kicked a pebble lying on the road and watched it roll away. "I was only eleven. I'm not really sure that it matters, anyway. The village didn't feel like anymore."

Zelda turned her face away. She wanted to hit something. She wanted to cry. Link had been forced to suffer tragedy after tragedy, both in his own life and in the life the goddesses had made for him, and yet he still fought to give the world peace. He spoke of it all matter-of-factly, as if it made no difference whether or not he had a home to return to. Sometimes his selflessness bordered on self-destruction.

Before she could think of a reply, they had reached the river they had fallen in two days ago. With no sunshine, it was dark in the shadow of Ikana Canyon. The wind rushed through the rocks, creating an eerie howling sound. "What now?" she asked.

Link pulled the Ocarina of Time out of his pack. "Make sure you're holding onto me," he answered. "I want to be sure we get through together." Zelda put a hand on his shoulder, and he drew in a breath, closed his eyes, and put the Ocarina to his lips.

She recognized the song from the first note. Impa had been humming it in her deep, musical voice for as long as Zelda could remember. It was what Link had played on the first day they met, to make her believe that he was from the future. If she thought far, far back, before everything had turned sour, she could even remember her father singing her to sleep. That brought the sting of tears to her eyes.

Zelda's lullaby rose up around them, filling the silent howling canyon with music. And with the music came a light, rose-colored and warm, swirling around them. It felt familiar. It felt right. It felt like something she had forgotten long ago and learned once again. Before long, the light had encompassed them until the canyon disappeared from Zelda's vision.

When the light cleared, they stood in the Lost Woods once again. The air was still and silent, the fog drifted among the trees—it was as if they had never left.

Zelda breathed in, and smiled. They were home.

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But when they stepped out of the Lost Woods and into Kokiri Village, Zelda did not think this was home after all.

The leaves hung loosely on the trees, brown and shriveled and nearly falling—it was the dead of autumn, where the leaves had just begun to turn when they had left. But Zelda hardly noticed any of it—what she noticed was the silence. There was no laughter echoing among the trees, no children harvesting the cattails growing by the river's edge, no Mido boasting of his great accomplishments. There was nothing.

Link took off running down the path that led to the village, boots slapping hard on the dirt. Zelda called after him, but he never slowed. She let him go, following at a walk—she was not sure she trusted her legs just then. Zelda passed rows of dark treehouses, sets of tools laid out as if someone was about to use them, long-since dry laundry hanging on a line between two houses. Kokiri Village was a ghost town, silent and empty.

She found Link standing before a wide house sporting a giant leaf on its roof. He was stock-still, broad shoulders pressed against the doorframe. She came to his side and placed a gentle hang on his shoulder. He looked at her, eyes lost.

"She's gone," he said hopelessly. "They're all gone."

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	14. candlelight

**notes 1: **I know, I know, I promised another chapter by the end of last weekend and it…didn't happen. I'll try harder to get the next one out in a shorter amount of time.

**notes 2: **also I didn't proofread this because I need to go the hell to bed so…hopefully there aren't any super embarrassing errors in here.

**notes 3: **reviews make me :)

**disclaimer:** The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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A drop of water trickled down the hood of Zelda's cloak and splashed onto her nose, making her shiver. The rain drummed against the roofs of Castle Town, muffling the clip-clop of their horses' hooves on the cobblestones. It was evening, though the precise time was impossible to tell with the clouds blotting out the sun. The streets were deserted of all but a few stragglers, though warm light spilled from windows and doors. Still, thinking of the crackling fireplaces within only made Zelda feel colder.

They had already been to Goron City and Zora's Domain; both were ghost towns with no sign of the Sages of Fire and Water. She had pieced it all together in her mind like a jigsaw puzzle built of information gleaned from traveling merchants and residents of Kakariko. It had been roughly three months since her father's death and her coronation. Kokiri Village had been the first to go; she could tell that from the layers of dust in the forest huts. Goron City had been second, and Zora's Domain the most recent.

Castle Town remained untouched, as did Kakariko, Lon Lon Ranch, and all the neighboring settlements they had passed. But there was a hollow, guilty place in Zelda's chest all the same—she had left her kingdom in order to save it, but the danger had been at home all along. Her heart ached with worry for Impa, for her people, for the Sages, for Link.

She glanced at him as they left the town, heading towards the castle. His face was closed off and blank, but there was a tightness in the set of his jaw that showed how tense he was. He had been speaking even less than usual since they had returned from Termina. They were both practically dead on their feet after days of travelling; the last time they had stopped to sleep was at the Clock Town inn, which hadn't exactly been a restful night for either of them.

"Halt!" snapped a voice, bringing her back to the present. Three guards stood before the gate that led to the castle road, and one barred their way with his spear in hand, rain pelting on his steel helm. "State your business. The queen is not expecting any visitors today."

Zelda gave him a wry smile and pulled back her hood. "I don't believe that will be a problem, sir."

The guard gaped and dropped to his knees in the mud. "Your Majesty," he gasped. "I beg forgiveness…I did not—"

"I do not expect you to recognize your queen in commoner's garb," she said gently. "Open the gates, please, and return to your post."

The guard nodded, and soon enough they were on their way again. Guards posted at the gate were a good sign; perhaps Impa was safe after all. The dread lining the pit of Zelda's stomach said otherwise.

Relief washed over her as the drawbridge opened to reveal a castle bustling with activity. A stableboy came jogging up to take the reins of her gelding as she dismounted, though Link kept hold of Epona, preferring to look after her himself. Zelda could hear the clang of steel against steel coming from the practice yards, and there was the rumbling of a forge coming from the smithy. _Home_, she thought fondly, and it was true—no matter how far she travelled, or how dark the world became, her place would always be in Hyrule Castle.

She looked at Link, whose face was dark. He didn't have a place like this, where everything was familiar and right. It was clear enough that he didn't belong in Kokiri Forest, and this very castle reminded him too much of his one-man war of the past. He didn't have a home, and that made her so, so sad.

"You should get a hot meal and sleep after you take care of Epona," she told him quietly. "I don't know what to do next, but you shouldn't be fighting evil on an empty stomach."

Link shifted from foot to foot. "You look exhausted," he said, his eyes lingering on her face. "You should get some rest too." He turned and trudged through the mud towards the stables, Epona trailing behind him.

Zelda allowed herself a small smile, touched by his concern, and headed in the opposite direction. She wanted more than anything to pull the blankets over her head and sleep for an eternity, safe from the burden of the world. But first, she had to see Impa.

She crossed to the entrance to the great hall, glad to finally be out of the rain. The servants and soldiers she passed paid her no heed, not recognizing the queen dressed the way she was. It was strange to walk through the halls as a faceless girl, without a bow from every passerby.

Impa would most likely be in the king's study—the _queen's _study, she had to remind herself. Zelda made her way and knocked on the door with a gloved hand, receiving a muffled, "Who is it?" from inside. Relief filled Zelda at the sound of the Sheikah's voice. With three of seven sages missing, she had not been sure that Impa was safe.

"It's me," she said. The door opened, and she found herself being tugged inside and pulled into a tight embrace. Zelda let her eyes fall shut and breathed in; Impa always smelled of new leather. It was comforting.

She was the first one to pull away and meet her guardian's crimson eyes. Zelda was shocked at the change she saw there. Impa's face was thinner, more haggard, and there were shadows under her eyes that had not been there the last time they had seen each other.

"Zelda," she whispered. "Are you all right? Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry I worried you," Zelda said, feeling a pang of guilt. "Much has happened since I saw you last." She pulled off her sodden cloak and hung it on the rack by the door.

"Then tell me everything," Impa said firmly, pulling out a chair for her.

Zelda sighed and sank down in the seat, wondering where to begin.

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Link's footsteps were quiet as he trotted down the stone steps, the corridor lit only by his torch. This was one part of the castle he had never visited, even while scampering around with Zelda when they were younger. The air was dank and chilly; the only sound was the rain pattering on the ground above.

Zelda was with Impa, no doubt, trading stories of the past three months. He had bathed and eaten dinner in the kitchens after taking care of Epona, but he had no desire to go to sleep. The nightmares rarely came when he was on the road, under the open sky, but here—in the castle he had once fought his way through to kill his sworn enemy—they plagued him almost every night.

The jailer stopped him when he reached the bottom of the steps. "I want to see the traitor," Link told him, not quite believing his own words.

The guard's eyes widened in disbelief. "_Why?_"

"I need to speak with him."

The jailer shrugged and stood, pulling a ring of keys from his belt. "Suppose traitors get visitors like anyone else. Though you're the first one in six years." He squinted at Link. "Aren't you the kid that put him in here?"

Link nodded in response. The guard offered him a grunt and an appraising look, then unlocked the door to the jail. "He's kept separate from the other prisoners. Last cell on the right," the jailer grumbled, and shut the door behind him.

Link walked down the long aisle of cells, his torch illuminating the metal bars. They were all empty but for the last one. A figure slumped against the wall, manacled by his ankles and wrists, though there was not much point. The Triforce of Power had never been with him in this lifetime, and his magic had left him the day the Sages had trapped his future self in the Sacred Realm. Without all that power, he was just a man.

The King of Evil raised his head and met Link in the eyes. He had turned thinner and gaunt, and was dressed in prison rags instead of the robes of a Gerudo. His crimson hair had grown long and tangled, and a ragged beard mottled his cheeks. But his eyes were still the same, glowering orange and defiance.

"Hero of Time," Ganondorf drawled. "I should be honored. It's been six long years since you ruined my plans and threw me in here. I've been rotting in this dungeon cell for nearly as long as I once ruled Hyrule."

The pit of Link's stomach dropped, like free-falling through the air. "You _remember_?"

Ganondorf chuckled, low in his throat. "Shocked, boy? I have always remembered. Life after life, cycle after cycle…I remember it all." He lifted his head and stood, chains jangling together. "But you did not come here for a history lesson. Why have you graced me with your presence today?"

Link dropped his hand to his sword and wrapped his fingers around its hilt, trying to wrack his brain for an answer. His feet had seemed to carry him here all on their own. He had told himself that it was because there was a chance Ganondorf was behind all this, but that couldn't be true. Majora's Mask would not serve anyone.

"I thought it was finally time to face you," Link said finally.

Ganondorf snorted and stepped up to the bars, footsteps made small by the manacles around his ankles. "And what great courage it must have taken, to visit a prisoner in his cell. The princess didn't come? What a disappointment. I thought she would want to face me more than anyone, after spending so much time in hiding."

Something must have shown on Link's face, because the Gerudo King laughed. "I see now. She doesn't remember, does she? Splitting herself into two beings took too much from her. It's just you and me that know the truth of it all. What a tragic story."

"It's done," Link growled. "It doesn't matter."

"You're a terrible liar, boy. It eats away at you, doesn't it? I always knew it would. I watched your progress, you know—you were quite the efficient war machine. You killed thousands while I killed a few dozen, and yet you're the one they call hero."

"You tried to take over Hyrule."

"I _tried _to save my people," Ganondorf snarled. "But that doesn't make a difference to you, does it? We could vanish into the sands for all you would care."

"You started a _war_," Link snapped. "And I had to fight it by myself. I killed those thousands to _protect_ countless innocent lives. That's why they call me a hero."

"Oh, but it still haunts you, hero. I can see it in your eyes, just as I could see it then. You cried when you ran me through with the Master Sword—you were _sorry _for it." Link turned his back on his enemy, unable to look him in the face. "And what are you now, boy? A shell. The poor fallen hero who hated killing. And that is what makes you weak—at your core, you have always been weak. I may have lost Hyrule, but in your heart I won. You will never stop fighting that battle."

Link turned back around and stepped up to the bars of the cell, his heart hard as stone in his chest. He glared into Ganondorf's eyes, ice blue on blood crimson. "You're wrong," he said coldly. "That's what has always separated us. Power is only worth something if you use it to protect people. And you were not worthy of power. _You _have always been the weak one." He took a long, deep breath. It all felt so clear now. "That's why I came today. To show you that you didn't win. _You will never win_."

Ganondorf said nothing; he only exhaled, shook his head, and retreated to slump against the wall. Link turned to leave, but something stopped him. "The cycle," he said, staring out at the long aisle of cells. "When does it end?"

Ganondorf chuckled, sounding very tired. "It doesn't, boy. It doesn't."

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	15. eternal war

**notes 1: **WHO'S READY FOR HYRULE WARRIORS I AM READY FOR HYRULE WARRIORS

**notes 2:** I actually like this chapter a lot (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I hope you do too!

**notes 3: **I know Link isn't actually much taller than Zelda at all but couples with vast height differences give me life, okay? okay.

**disclaimer: **Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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Zelda found him in the practice yards the next day, helping her guards train as he did from time to time. A hushed crowd gathered around the sparring ring, intent on the two men within. Link and the captain of her guard circled around each other, each armed with a sword and a shield. She made her way through to watch, the guards parting to make room for their queen.

The captain was a huge man, broad-shouldered and strong-armed. He wore practice armor, while his opponent wore only a green tunic. Link looked very small before the captain, but Zelda knew better.

The captain moved first, throwing all his weight forward in a lunge. Link sidestepped the falling sword, cat-quick, and struck out. The captain caught the blow on his shield and swung his sword around, aiming for Link's side. Instead, Link shoved himself away into an effortless backflip, landing on his feet and kicking up dust. His sword snaked out, so fast it was a mere blur to Zelda, and caught against the captain's weapon, knocking it aside.

When the dust cleared, the point of Link's blade was held up at the captain's throat. The fight had ended nearly as quickly as it had begun. The crowd was silent, awestruck. Zelda was breathless; her eyes stung strangely. She had not seen him execute such a perfect fighting move in a long time.

At last, Link lowered his sword and slid it into its sheath. "You have to think before you move," he told the captain. "Watch your opponent's eyes, not just his sword. The eyes always betray the next move."

The captain nodded, humbled, and broke away to give orders to the guards. Zelda wove through the soldiers to get to Link, who looked up as she approached. "I forget how good you are, sometimes," she said quietly. "Will you walk with me?"

Link followed her without a word. They crossed the practice yard to the steps leading up to the ramparts, where Zelda gathered the skirts of her lilac dress and began to climb. A chilly wind ruffled her hair when they reached the top of the stairs, on the castle walls. Zelda leaned her forearms against the cool stone rail and looked over the castle grounds, watching out of the corner of her eye as Link joined her.

"You're leaving soon, aren't you?" she murmured.

He eyed her, his expression sinking, and gave her a nod.

"I'm not coming with you," she blurted out. "The people are afraid. I was gone too long already. Hyrule needs me."

Link nodded again as if that had been what he expected. "I'm sorry," Zelda said, turning to him. "I wanted us to see this through together. And know that when the time comes to kill Majora's Mask, I'll be there. I don't want you to fight alone anymore." Link was avoiding her gaze. "I'm sorry," she repeated, and reached for his arm. "Please say something, Link."

"Oh…don't apologize," he said gently. "You're fulfilling your duty, as always. I'll fulfill mine."

"It's not _fair_," she insisted, feeling like a child. "Over and over you've had to go off and save Hyrule, only to have it threatened again. You fought and nearly drove yourself _mad _fighting, and for what? It never ends. How do you deal with it?"

Realizing how much she had said, she covered her mouth with a hand. She was a queen; queens were supposed to remain strong, always. She just felt so hopeless, ever since those memories had come to her while falling through the portal to Termina. The two of them would never know true peace. Their hands would always be scarred.

Link was staring at her wide-eyed. "Deal with it?" he repeated. "I don't, Zelda. There's no excuse for the way I act sometimes. You just have to…" he trailed off, struggling for the right words. His hand came up, fingers brushing her cheek. Zelda swallowed hard. "You keep finding reasons to live, no matter what."

She let out a breath and leaned her head forward, pressing her face into his chest. Her forehead rested on his collarbone, and could feel the beat of his heart through his shirt—_ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump._ She closed her eyes and breathed in; he always smelled of the forest, of earth and trees, of life. Her arms drifted up to wrap around his middle.

Zelda could feel him tense and hesitate, but his arms came around her all the same. "Be careful out there," she breathed into his tunic. "Come back safely."

The chuckle rumbled through his ribcage. "I always do, don't I?" Link murmured. He let out a sigh and rested his chin on her head. "Thank you, Zelda."

"For what?" she asked, pressing her fingers into his back. She could feel the rough edges of his scars there, even through his tunic.

"For everything. That has gone unsaid for too long."

They stood there for a few moments longer, drinking in the steadiness of themselves and each other. It was strange to think that this new closeness they had found over the past few months was born of a world-threatening crisis. But then again, that was how Link had met the other Zelda, in another time. But that was the core of what kept her at a tentative distance. He was still holding on so hard to the past.

Even so, he was the first one to pull away. She looked up at him, her gaze lingering over the hard lines around his mouth, the tautness of his jaw. There were dark smudges under his eyes, and darkness within them as well. But there was kindness, too, even after all this time. "You'll do your duty, and I'll do mine," Zelda promised, mirroring his words from before. "And we'll see each other again."

Link gave her one long, final look, and nodded. Zelda watched him turn and trot down the stairs, then across the practice yard, to where Epona was grazing on the grass. The mare raised her head and nibbled at Link's hair in greeting. He smiled and rubbed her neck, then put a foot in the stirrup and swung up in the saddle. Finally, Zelda watched as he urged his horse into a trot and disappeared through the gates.

He didn't look back once.

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Link was halfway to Gerudo Valley when he heard the first crack.

It sounded almost like thunder, splintering through the air with a deafening ring. But where thunder boomed all around, this had definitely come from behind him. A distinct sense of heaviness, of _wrongness _invaded the air. He twisted around in the saddle, his heart beating in his throat. Even from here, Hyrule Castle stood tall and proud on the horizon. He could see storm clouds gathering above it, and even from the field he could hear the screams.

Link wheeled Epona around and dug his heels into her sides. She leapt into a dead gallop, the gait she saved only for emergencies. At that breakneck speed, they were back through the gates of Castle Town in a matter of minutes. Link leaned low over Epona's neck, fingers tangled in her mane as they dodged through the marketplace. The town itself looked untouched, but its residents were crowded outside in horrified silence, peering in the direction of the castle.

He kept going, the world a blur of grass and stone and sky around him. When he got within a quarter of a mile from the castle, Epona skidded to a halt, tossing her head. He touched his heels to her sides, but she snorted as if in refusal, the whites of her eyes showing. Her instincts were sound; she did not want to run headlong into danger, but that was what Link always did. He slid down from the saddle and continued on foot, boots pounding on the dirt road. And at last, he made it over the drawbridge into the castle.

What he saw there horrified him. The castle still stood tall and proud above him, but a giant black pit had opened up underneath it, growing by the minute. There were people everywhere, some running, some screaming, some frozen in horror. At first, Link was not sure what they were so afraid of.

Then the second crack broke through the sky, and something struck him with the force of a tsunami, making him tumble head over heels in the dirt. Some invisible force was dragging him towards the pit. The people around him were shouting, sobbing, trying to get a hold on something before they were pulled under. Link's fingers scrabbled at the earth, fingernails breaking in his effort to find purchase. In a last desperate effort, he drew his sword and stabbed it into the earth, hanging onto it with all his strength.

Face pressed to the ground, Link watched as a cook who made the best apple pie in Hyrule was dragged over the edge. She was followed by one of Zelda's handmaidens, and the guard captain Link had fought such a short time ago. The only thing he could do was catch a single wailing toddler and hold the child close to him as people disappeared all around him.

Finally, after what seemed like a century, the pulling sensation stopped. Link didn't hesitate for a second. With the toddler on his hip, he pulled his sword from the ground and shoved it into its sheath. He pulled up a woman who had secured herself on a tree root and put the toddler in her arms, telling her to run as far and fast as she could. Next, he picked up a dazed old man and hoisted him on his back.

"Come _on_, people, _move it!_" Link shouted, shoving two stumbling farmers into a jog. He herded them out of the gates like sheep. That was something he had learned after years of being a hero—kindness would get you nowhere while saving a big group, though it was the intention behind the actions. People had to be snapped at for them to take action.

He set the old man down after he crossed the drawbridge, then took off back into the castle. His thoughts flitted briefly to Zelda, but she could look after herself, and most likely had Impa with her. No one in the courtyard was a sacred Sage or a bearer of the Triforce. Link had always stood with the weak.

By now, people were flooding out of the castle gates. Link grabbed two fleeing guards and hauled them along with him. "You!" he yelled at the man whose arm he held in his right hand. "Go and find the other guards, you coward! Rally them up and save your people. And you!" he cried, turning the guard on his left as he released the one on his right. "Help me lift this cart so we can get them out!"

The guard complied, taking the opposite side of the cart and lifting it to reveal the mother, father, and daughter trapped underneath. They crawled out but collapsed, suffering broken bones and crushed limbs. "Take her!" Link shouted at the guard as he put the young girl on his back and pulled the man to his feet. The man's left leg was a bloody mess, so he had to lean heavily on Link. The soldier lifted up the woman, and they made for the exit.

Then, a third crack splintered through the air.

Link, staggering under the dead weight of the man and girl, was not prepared. The invisible wave knocked him over once again and yanked him towards the pit. The girl was shrieking, but she kept her hold on his shoulders, and Link managed to keep an arm around the man. He reached for his sword and drew it once again, burying it deep into the ground.

It was not like the first wave had been, cradling a single toddler close to his body. The girl's fingernails were digging gouges in his shoulders in her effort to hold on. The man was twice his weight and barely conscious after losing so much blood. Link's muscles shook with effort; his hand began to slip on his sword.

He looked up—they were just before the forge, within three feet of the short fence that divided it from the rest of the courtyard. He looked back, realizing how close they were to the pit. And that darkness—he knew it now. If he thought back and back, to a lifetime that belonged to a different Link, he could remember another Hyrule, shrouded by shadows. _That's where it leads_, he realized. _That's where the Sages got taken, and the Kokiri, the Zora, the Goron. The Dark World._

His grip on the injured man began to fail. Fingers slick with sweat, Link's hand slipped down the hilt of his sword, until he held on only by the blade. The edge bit into his palm. The man slipped further. "I can't hold onto you!" Link shouted to him desperately. The man didn't respond; maybe he already knew, or maybe the blood loss had killed him minutes ago.

Finally, Link's fingers let go of the man's shirt, and he watched him topple over into the pit as guilt washed over his mind. The girl on his back screamed for her father; Link had nearly forgotten about her. His sword cut deeper into his palm, and the pulling wouldn't stop.

Gathering what little strength he had left, Link took a breath and reached for the girl with his free arm. He owed her this much, after letting her father die. His hand tightened around the blade of his sword, but he did not cry out in pain. Instead he gathered his legs underneath him and _stood_, pulling the little girl up in his arms quick as a flash, and threw her over the fence. He saw her land on the ground, but the fence stopped her from being pulled into the pit.

Link was not so lucky.

He could only fight against the pulling for so long. A fourth crack splintered through his ears, and he fell. This time, he couldn't save himself with his sword. His hands grappled with the earth, struggling to find something, anything, to grab onto. He found nothing.

Link slipped off the edge, and fell into darkness.

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	16. eclipse

**notes 1: **haha yeah idk school has swamped me and Hyrule Warriors is perfection so this took forever

**notes 2: **please ignore my geographical blunders. I swear I unintentionally and inaccurately change the location of stuff in every chapter

**notes 3: **My headcanon is that the Dark World is not a corrupted version of the Sacred Realm, but rather a world that coexists with Hyrule and the Sacred Realm—like Termina and the Twilight Realm. Likewise, the Dark World changes over time just like Hyrule does, so it's gonna be different from ALttP. And, well, it is…darker. Literally.

**notes 4: **I know I'm kinda answering questions with more questions, but I promise all will be explained soon enough. Thank you all for being patient!

**disclaimer: **Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

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><p>.<p>

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Nails digging into the dirt, Link jolted awake, gasping for air. He shot up, heart hammering, and peered at his surroundings. He could tell from the wind howling around him that he was very high from the ground. The sun hung low on the horizon, its light a dull red that did little to help Link's vision. It was like one of those rare moonless nights in Hyrule, where there was nothing to do but find somewhere to camp until morning.

He stretched out his limbs and rolled his shoulders, assessing his condition. It was an old ritual from long ago. He ached all over, but nothing felt broken. He could feel that both hands bore a deep slice across the palm from where he had gripped the blade of his sword before falling into that cursed pit. Slipping a hand into the pouch hanging on his belt, Link drew out a roll of bandages and wrapped them around his wounds. If his pack hadn't fallen off at some point in Hyrule Castle, he might have done better, but it was all he could do for now. Then he felt for his sword and found it gone.

He tried to swallow down the panic rising in his throat. In the old days of adventure, he had navigated through the dark parts of the temples by using Navi's glow and the Master Sword's reassuring weight in his hand. Still, fighting nearly blind had always scared him. This was worse. All he had left was his shield, his bow and quiver, a few bombs, a red potion, and the Ocarina of Time. Even his water skin was gone. And he lacked a sword—Link was no one without a sword in his hand.

But if he was right—if what happened in the castle had happened all around Hyrule—then the Sages were here, as well as thousands of people. Saria, his first friend, his best friend. Darunia and Ruto, who had put their faith in him so many times. The Kokiri, the Goron, the Zora. If Link didn't save them, who would?

_No one_, a voice whispered inside his head. _You are alone in this war, as always._

Then he thought of Zelda's face as they had stood on the rooftop and tried to say goodbye—cheeks flushed from the chilly air, hair ruffled by the wind, blue eyes shining. _"You'll do my duty, and I'll do mine," _she had said, her face sad but determined._ "And we'll see each other again." _He wasn't alone. She had been trying to tell him that all this time.

Link stood—chin up, shoulders straight—and took up the burden of the world once more. He turned in a full circle, trying to get a sense of where he was in the seemingly impenetrable darkness. He took a few tentative steps forward, and one of his feet found open air. For a split second pure fear shot through him, but then he realized the drop was only half a foot. They were stairs. He lowered himself down and edged out again with one foot, onto the second step.

He wasn't sure how many steps there were, or how long it took him to climb down. It felt like centuries passed before he found the bottom, staggering at the sudden change in ground. By then, his eyes had begun to sting from the strain of squinting ahead of him.

Looking back behind him, Link could make out the vague shape of the building he had climbed down from, outlined against the dull red sun. It was a pyramid, spearing up and up towards the sky. It struck him as very familiar. A name came to him unbidden, from the recesses of his mind—_the Pyramid of Power_. He had been here in a life long before this one—a different Link fighting the same enemy. If he remembered correctly, the Dark World was a reflection. The pyramid was another version of Hyrule Castle, which meant that everything else was located in the same place. He knew Hyrule Field like the back of his hand. It shouldn't be so hard to navigate in the dark.

Link started forward in the direction he believed to be southeast, praying that he was right. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he was wrong—he could be lost forever in this land of shadows. It seemed like every few minutes he blindly tripped over something or stumbled into a rut in the mud. Once, he heard a splintering _crack _as his foot broke through something hard. Reaching down, Link pried his foot free and groped around to see what he had stepped on. When his hand finally found it, he recoiled quickly. Even without his sight, he knew the shape of a human skull.

It was when he stood back up that he heard the first howl. Then a second followed it, and a third and a fourth. Link straightened, cold sweat trickling down his spine. He would know the call of a Wolfos anywhere. From the sound of their howls, he could tell they were very close. He considered his options. He had his bow, but what good would that do if he couldn't even see his target? Bombs wouldn't work either; it was more likely he would ending up blowing himself up.

Link had never been a Kokiri, but he had learned to have the instincts of one. Trying to see his enemies was futile; he let his eyes fall shut and opened up his other senses. He could smell the Wolfos' dank breath on the air, hear their paws thrumming on the earth. He pulled his shield off his back and held it up in front of him.

The first monster leaped at him from the right. Link lashed out with his shield, striking it with the heavy metal side. The blow made a sickening _crunch_ as it landed, and afterward he heard the Wolfos hit the ground. Hearing the telltale snarl of another member of the pack from behind him, he whirled around, using the momentum to land a swift roundhouse kick to what felt like the beast's skull.

Their pack mates killed, the last two Wolfos rushed him together. While Link turned to smash his shield down on the first one's skull, the other leaped for him and tackled him to the ground, its claws digging deep into his chainmail. His shield tumbled from his grasp as he hit the dirt, the monster's weight pressing down on him hard. Link battered at it with his fists frantically as it slashed at him with teeth and claws. Finally, he somehow wormed his arm to the quiver on his back, wrapping his fingers around an arrow and stabbing it into the Wolfos' flesh. By the time he pulled the arrow out, it was just a dead body. Link shoved it away, disgusted.

He slid the arrow back into his quiver, hands shaking, lungs heaving, and swallowed back the bile in his throat. He hadn't suffered any serious wounds, only a few scratches and bites. The blood on his hands didn't belong to him. He searched around on his hands and knees until he found his shield, then slung it on his back and stood.

Despair struck Link as he realized he had lost track of which direction he had been going in. He could still see the dim outline of the pyramid, impossibly far on the horizon, but he couldn't seem to remember where he had been heading. He tried inhaling to see if he could smell the trees and earth of the forest, but all that reached him was the scent of blood rising from the corpses behind him.

Had he been in Hyrule, he would have simply found a place found a safe place to spend the night and continued on in the morning. But a look at the blood-red sun told him that it had not moved since his arrival. It was called the Dark World for a reason. He swallowed again, wishing he still had his water skin, and glared at the darkness around him resentfully. His internal compass told him to head to the left. It had been wrong plenty of times, but it was all he had.

Link trudged onward, for minutes or hours or days, with only the silence and the darkness as companions. He tried his best to pay attention to where he was going, but it seemed very possible that he was walking in circles. There were no insects chirping or owls hooting; there was no wind and no warmth and no _light_. It was enough to make a person go insane. But instead, Link filled his head with thoughts of the people who he had to save, and it was enough.

Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime, his foot caught on something and he fell-face first onto the ground. He felt the rough wooden planks beneath his bandaged palms and nearly wept in relief. He still could not see, but he had clear enough memories of this bridge. Link had spent the first ten years of his life standing at the entrance and wondering what was beyond—and at the end of that decade, he had finally crossed it to find out.

He raised his head and was nearly blinded when he saw the torchlight at the entrance of Kokiri Forest. After so much time in complete darkness, even the dim light made Link's eyes sting like ten thousand killer wasps. He waited until his vision adjusted, then stood and crept to the edge of the forest's opening, flattening himself against the hollow tree trunk. Torches meant inhabitants, and Link could not be sure that they were friendly. He pulled his bow off his back and drew an arrow from the quiver, nocking it to the bowstring, and leaned around the corner.

A Lizalfos was marching by, oblivious to Link's position. He raised his bow and drew it back to his ear, then fired. The arrow struck the Lizalfos in the side of its head, and it was dead before it hit the ground. Link's eyes darted around to confirm that no one had seen him; then he edged around the opening of Kokiri Village's entrance.

His mind went blank when he saw the village. Monsters patrolled all around. Some of the trees had been cut down, and the clearing looked empty without the houses that were there in Hyrule. But Link barely saw any of that. His eyes were focused on the cages lined up in the center of the village. They were small, barely big enough to hold a dog, and stacked on top of one another. And in each one, there was a Kokiri.

He drew his bow and aimed at the back of a Moblin walking away from him. The arrow toppled it, and Link watched, cold rage settled in his gut. He nocked another arrow and loosed, this time at a Stalfos, then at a Redead, and finally a Wolfos. If there had been a hundred monsters in that clearing, he would have killed them all. It could never be enough.

When he was done, he ran to the cages and skidded to a halt at the first one. "Link?" whispered Fado, tears coming to her eyes. Her clothes were in tatters, and her usual cheerful smile was nowhere to be found.

"It's me," Link assured, trying to keep his voice steady. His name spread down the line of cages, repeated over, and he heard sobs and laughter and hope. He had never been one of them, but they were his people. Nothing could change that.

He tugged at the chain holding Fado's cage shut, but it was no use. He would need a key to open any of them. "I'll be back," he promised all of them. "I have to find a key. Then I'll get you all out of there and to someplace safe. It's going to be all right."

"Wait!" cried a familiar voice, and Link's heart wrenched in his chest. He walked down the line of cages and knelt down before to one near the end. Saria, smaller than he had ever seen her, reached her manacled hands out to touch him. His first friend, his best friend. He could see her rides through her shirt, and her voice was tiny when she spoke. "You have to go after the one who did this," she murmured.

Link looked at the other Kokiri, skinny and ragged and all so _young. Did I look like that, when I started saving the world?_ he wondered. None of them wore chains other than Saria—he knew what that meant. She was the Sage of Forest; of course she had fought to defend her home.

"Who, Saria?" he asked, wrapping his big hands around her tiny ones. "Who did this?"

"_She _did," Saria breathed. "In the Great Deku Tree's clearing. You must stop her."

"I will," Link vowed, and took off running. Trees and grass shot by him, lit only by a few torches along the way. The rest of the forest was dark, and evil in a way that he had not sensed since the day Gohma killed the Great Deku Tree.

He slowed to a halt when he reached the clearing. In Hyrule, this was where the first Great Deku Tree loomed overhead, huge and long since dead. The new sprout grew near the old one's roots. In the Dark World, it was only one vast tree.

A woman stood with her back to Link, looking up at the tree. A long thick braid swung down her back—at first it looked black, but when the torchlight flickered off it Link could see that it was a shade of dark purple like the sky at twilight. Her skin was dusky brown, and she wore a long sleevless dress in a dark purple like her hair. On her head was a small dainty crown, adorned with sharp golden spikes jutting into the air.

"Welcome, Hero of Time," she said coolly without turning around, and Link could _feel_ the power in her voice.

"Who are you?" he snapped sharply, not in the mood to play games. "What do you want?"

She chuckled. "Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule. Din, the goddess of power…Nayru, the goddess of wisdom…Farore, the goddess of courage…"

"I already know that story," he growled.

"Do you?" she asked. "The story left a few things out. Namely, a few _people_." She turned slowly, meeting his gaze coldly. She was beautiful in an ethereal sort of way—full lips, arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, long nose. And her eyes…her eyes glared red and yellow and green like acid, and they hated.

"Who are you?" Link demanded, but by then he already knew.

The woman gave him a cruel, curling smile. "I am Majora, Goddess of Magic."

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	17. aim for the heart

**notes 1: **shoutout to TriforceP for reviewing a lot! Thanks!

**notes 2: **this chapter is _all_ dialogue, but it had to be done.

**notes 3: **also,I changed my pen name because I'd had the same one since like eighth grade. I hope that didn't make the story hard for you guys to find.

**notes 4: **pretty sure I mentioned this earlier, but this story will contain spoilers for Skyward Sword. this is your final warning! Oh, and it might be a good idea to read the prequel manga if you haven't already, but it's not really necessary.

**disclaimer: **Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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Though his fingers itched for the weight of a sword in his hands, Link had to settle for his bow. He nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring to his ear, aimed, and loosed, his movements quick, fluid, and precise. Link's greatest advantage had always lain in his speed: the woman before him, whoever or whatever she was, wouldn't have time to react.

But react she did, and it was faster than a blink. One moment the arrow was sailing through the air—the next, it was enclosed in the woman's fingers. Link could only stare at her, stunned. She smiled that cold smile again, white teeth flashing on dark skin, and he felt chills run down his spine. She dropped the arrow and ground it into the dirt with a dainty slippered foot until it snapped.

"I believe this is a story you will want to hear, Hero."

The only thing Link actually _wanted_ was to end her life, if she truly was Majora; to plunge a blade through her stomach and watch her bleed to death. She deserved that and more for all the things she had done. But he needed answers—for his people, for Zelda, for himself—so he lowered his bow and held his tongue.

"Good boy," she purred. "Now, where shall I start?"

"At the beginning," Link suggested.

"A good choice," she replied evenly. Link had meant it sarcastically, but either she didn't catch on or she simply ignored him. The woman who called herself Majora gathered her skirts and stepped over the broken arrow, her long braid swinging behind her. "I suppose it will be easier to simply show you."

A dark purple light flowed around her palms, and she threw her hands forward, flinging the magic towards him. Link flinched backwards, thinking it was an attack, but the two small orbs halted in the air in front of him. Then they burst, expanding into a field of black.

"Before time began, before spirits and life existed, five golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule," Majora began. Link watched as three familiar miniature shapes streaked across the field of black: one red, the second blue, and the last green. "Din, the goddess of power…Nayru, the goddess of wisdom…Farore, the goddess of courage…" here her lips twisted into a grin as a yellow figure shot by, followed by a purple one. "Hylia, the goddess of time…and Majora, the goddess of magic."

He remembered standing on the Clock Tower in Termina, listening to the rumbling prophecy of the giants. _Find the three who were once five. _Link stared at her, dumbfounded. "That doesn't makes sense," he protested. "There aren't—"

Majora held up a hand, silencing him, and pointed back to the show. "Din," she said, "with her strong flaming arms, she cultivated the land and created the red earth." He watched as the world took shape, the mountains and rivers and valleys that had been Hyrule at the very beginning. "Nayru…poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world." The field of black was replaced by the blue sky that Link knew so well. "Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law." Grass coated the plains; tree saplings sprouted in the earth; fireflies floated through the air.

He looked across at the woman, who remained fixated on the story. The glow of her magic glinted in her eyes. "Hylia, with her will of justice, built the cycle of time that structured the world. And Majora used her enduring heart to create the magic that brought color and peace to the land."

That almost made Link laugh. When had magic ever brought peace? It had enabled Ganondorf to take over Hyrule for seven years of misery and tyranny. Besides, none of this made sense.

"For thousands of years, Hyrule grew stronger and stronger, more and more full of life," she continued. He watched the centuries shoot by in seconds. The forests grew. Villages sprung up, then towns, then cities with castles. "But one of Majora's creations became corrupted by evil and hatred." Her multicolored eyes looked almost sad as she watched the scene unfold. A hazy shape of darkness formed like smoke, billowing bigger and bigger. "The goddesses dubbed him Demise, the Demon King. He grew in power and in rage until he unleashed his hate upon the land, waging war upon the goddesses and the people of Hyrule."

The dark smoke spread across Hyrule, flowing over the towns and the fields and the miniscule dots that he could only assume were people. The five goddesses flew around, beating back the smoke, but every time they opened a gap it filled back in immediately. "Demise was too strong," Majora said. "It was a hopeless battle. The goddesses prepared to leave Hyrule to its fate—but Majora could not come with them." Her voice grew brittle and angry, her face a bitter sneer. The miniature green, red, blue and yellow goddesses swarmed around the purple one until her light was no longer visible. "Whether intentionally or not, she had created the Demon King; her sisters no longer trusted her. And so they bound her and chained her and trapped her to a certain item—a mask that kept her sealed and leashed to whichever mortal picked it up."

"Then…what happened to Hyrule?" Link asked. "The goddesses just…_left_?"

"Not all of them." She gestured to the magic field in between them. Din, Nayru and Farore were ascending to the heavens, but the yellow glow that was Hylia stayed. She circled around a group of tiny ant-sized people, beating back the forces of the Demon King. "Hylia could not bear to abandon the world she had helped to create, even to save herself. She stayed and fought Demise along with her people." A radiant green light appeared next to the goddess, fighting by her side. Link's stomach twisted into a knot. "Eventually, a mortal hero emerged from the humans that followed Hylia. Together, they fought a desperate battle against Demise and his army. To keep her people safe, Hylia tore a piece of land from Hyrule's crust and lifted it towards the heavens."

Link watched the tiny people floating up and up, until they vanished above the clouds. On the surface, Hylia and the hero fought on, a narrow beacon of light amidst a sea of darkness. Then they both struck out in unison, and the darkness around them began to dissipate, spiraling outwards until it had all disappeared but for one concentrated point. "The goddess and the hero won their battle against Demise and sealed him within the earth. However, it was a long and terrible battle, and the hero perished on the field. Out of grief for him, the goddess lowered herself to the form of a mortal." Both the green light of the hero and the golden light of Hylia flickered out, then died. "From then on, the spirits of the goddess and the hero would forever be reborn to protect Hyrule anew."

The magic condensed and flowed back into Majora's palms, sinking into her skin like melting snowflakes. Link stared at his own hands, trying to make sense of what he had just seen.

It was hard to concentrate on one specific memory from his past lives, but he did remember the land in the sky. He remembered soaring through the clouds on a huge crimson bird, with a laughing girl's arms wrapped around his waist. And even earlier than that, he remembered that battle—the greatest one he'd ever fought. In the end he'd died alone on the battlefield, staring at the sky and praying that Hylia would come for him.

Link tried to swallow, but it felt as though something was lodged in his throat. "Hylia gets reincarnated, just like I do," he said finally. "Zelda…every Princess Zelda there's ever been…has been a manifestation of the goddess?" Even as he asked the question, he knew the answer. Zelda was ingrained into his every memory, as far back as they went. There was only one explanation for that.

"You're a quick one," she observed. "Yes. Hylia's soul is bound to the hero's soul—to _your_ soul. The two of you will continue this cycle forever."

Link looked at the mark of the Triforce on the back of his hand. "What happened to the other goddesses?"

"Oh, you already know that part of the story," Majora said airily. "The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world.

The Triforce of Courage had always been a confusing mix of emotions for Link. Part of him had always been proud to be Farore's chosen, even though being the hero had brought him a world of pain and very little else. But this was the first time he had ever looked upon it with disgust. How could the goddess of courage abandon her people? How could she then force a scared little boy to do her work for her? If that was the kind of goddess Link served, he wasn't sure he wanted this mark anymore.

He clenched his hands at his sides and raised his head to look the woman square in the eyes. The colors of her irises gleamed and shifted in the light. The crown on her head was jagged and spiked, just like the edges of the mask. He could feel the power radiating from her in waves, and once again wished he had a sword by his side.

"You're Majora," he stated finally, as if the words would not be true unless he said them aloud.

"That I am."

"You're responsible for all of this. The monster army, the Happy Mask Salesman, dragging people into the Dark World…_why_?"

Majora circled him slowly, her eyes never leaving his. Dead leaves crunched underneath her feet. "That mask salesman was an idiot," she sneered. "A useful tool, but an idiot. He thought holding the mask meant he held all the power in the world. He never knew how right he was. I slumbered for eons in that dark place—and as I slept, my power grew. Patience is a deadlier weapon than even your courage, Hero. I killed that wretched man, and broke free of my prison to return to my true form. But I knew you would come looking, so I made sure he'd come back to give you and Hylia a little surprise."

_Her name is Zelda_, Link thought, but there was no point in arguing. "I thought I killed you six years ago," he said. "I thought the evil inside the mask was gone."

She gave him a brief, joyless chuckle. "There is evil in all of us. It never truly dies, boy. You should know that better than anyone."

"But what do you _want_?" Link snapped, trying to keep the fear out of his voice—because he truly _was _afraid. He'd fought monsters huge and small. He'd fought the King of Darkness. But Majora had been the worst of them all, and now she stood before him as a full-fledged goddess.

"We all want something, don't we?" she said, and sighed, turning away from him. "My sisters and I wanted to _build _something, all that time ago. We wanted to fill the vast void that was the world. And so Din made the land, Nayru established order, Farore invented life, and Hylia created time. Practical, sensible things. But I was always different. All I ever wanted to do was make something beautiful. Magic was meant to be a gift to those lives that Farore cultivated. With it, the people could change the land, defy the laws, warp the flow of time. It...it was never meant to be twisted the way it was."

The sadness in her voice almost made him sympathize with her, but Link steeled his heart and put up his walls. He could not afford to falter. "But you're using magic to hurt people," he said. "What do you hope to achieve?"

Majora drew herself up to her full height and turned to face him, her eyes gleaming in the torchlight. There was no humanity in her gaze, and no mercy.

"I want the world back," she hissed, and lunged towards him.

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	18. porcelain, ivory, steel

**notes 1: **I know you probably want to know what's going on with Link, but I wanted to show you guys that Zelda isn't sitting idly by while Link does what he does.

**notes 2:** I also haven't really shown much of Zelda's true strengths, which are intelligence, knowledge, and of course wisdom. I think that Zelda is all brains, as being a princess has taught her to be. She will always choose the sensible option in order to protect her people; her own emotions rarely factor into it. And Link…Link's all heart. He's unyielding, instinctual, _brave_—sometimes stupidly so. He throws himself into harm's way without second thought to fight for what's right. From that perspective, Zelda and Link are very alike in their selflessness, but different in the way they go about it.

**notes 3: **Link made all that hero stuff look so easy, but in reality it had to have been so _exhausting_. It's sad, actually. Really, really sad.

**disclaimer: **Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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From the balcony of her bedroom, the queen of Hyrule watched the moon creep up above the peak of Death Mountain. The wind was calm and soft, but ripe with the chill of late autumn. It caught in her hair, making it tumble around her shoulders in a swirl of gold.

Zelda sighed and turned away, retreating to her chambers warmed by the fireplace. She drifted over to the small wooden table where she sometimes had her supper. In place of food there were two blades, steel glinting in the candlelight. Zelda had found the first buried point down in the dirt of the practice yards, tarnished with blood. A hysterical toddler had told her between sobs of the boy in green who had saved her life, then fallen into the pit. His concern for himself had come last, as always. Strangely enough, the portal had closed after Link had fallen through. Zelda knew that that was no coincidence.

She needed two hands to lift the sword and run her fingers along its blade. _"It should be heavy," _Link had told her years ago, when she had first ordered the sword to be made for him. _"That way, I'll need to think long and hard before I decide to lift it." _

Zelda's eyes wandered to the second blade. She set Link's sword down gently and picked up the dagger. It was much lighter, and only about the length of her forearm, but Impa could wreak havoc with it if she chose. This blade had always been at the Impa's side, just as the Sheikah had always been at Zelda's. They spent most evenings together, going over royal business in her study, or walking the castle grounds, or playing chess in Zelda's quarters. Tonight, all she had was two blades without owners and a stabbing emptiness.

Hyrule Castle was practically a ghost town, now. The townspeople had lent a hand repairing the damage and treating the wounded, but half of the staff was gone. The rest wandered around with blank faces, going about their duties with haunted eyes. Zelda could give them all the reassurances she wanted, but words would not heal the loss of their families and friends. The only thing she could do was stop it from happening again.

Majora had to be behind the opening of the portals, and the mask was clearly targeting the Sages. The Kokiri had been first, then the Goron, the Zora, and finally Zelda's castle. But why had the pit taken Impa and Link but left her alone? She sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples. There were too many questions, but at least she had one answer.

The Gerudo were next. They had to be: other than Zelda, Nabooru was the last remaining Sage in Hyrule. And no matter how shaky their alliance was, Zelda owed the Gerudo a warning.

She pulled off her shift and instead dressed in comfortable breeches and a simple woolen tunic, then went to the water basin and scrubbed her face clean of any makeup. She stepped into a pair of worn boots and fastened a dark cloak around her shoulders. Fingers deft and quick, Zelda pulled her long hair up and away from her face, putting it in one long braid. Her hands hovered over her bow longingly, but taking a weapon to a diplomatic mission was not a good way to ensure success. As an afterthought, Zelda grabbed the small knife she kept under her pillow and shoved it into her boot, just in case.

Her handmaidens had left for the night, but there were guards posted outside her bedroom. Queen or not, they would never allow her to go on this mission alone. She planned to be back before morning, but just in case, she scrawled a note to her handmaidens and left it on the bed. _I will be back, _the note said. _Please don't worry. And please, for the love you bear me, do __not __tell the guards I am gone until the sun has risen and set once again. _

Zelda stepped out onto her balcony and took a breath, asking the goddesses to see her safely through. It had been years since the last time she had snuck out of her own room, but it had been a common practice once, when she was a giggling child running off to find Link so he could take her on an adventure. He would show her the sights of Castle Town, or bring her to Lon Lon Ranch to meet Malon. Impa had always found them before sunrise, though, and hauled them both back to the castle after a long lecture. The memories made her smile, and the smile gave her strength.

She got a tight grip on the thick blanket of vines covering the castle wall, then swung her legs over the balcony and into open air. For a terrifying moment Zelda hung there, arms screaming with strain, feet flailing around to find purchase. Then her boots struck a solid foothold, and she sank into it, gasping in relief. She let herself rest for a moment, then cautiously moved one foot down, finding purchase below her. Her heart beat in her throat; he didn't look down for fear that the sheer height would make her give up.

Inch by inch, Zelda climbed down the wall of Hyrule Castle. The vines were rough on her palms, and her muscles ached with the effort—this had seemed so much easier when she was little. But she never stopped, and finally, her feet touched the ground. She sank down gratefully and slumped against the wall, breathing hard. She found that she did not want to rise again.

"Move," Zelda whispered to herself, but she was trembling too hard. Link had felt like this sometimes, she was sure. He had dragged himself from temple to temple, dodging traps and monsters, always fighting and killing. He had thrown himself into that rhythm, pushing his body to the breaking point and still _winning._ If he had survived that much, how could she let herself get defeated by one long climb?

She wondered where he was now. Was he in danger? Was he hurt? "Move," Zelda said again, but this time it was a queen's command, not a girl's request.

Her body obeyed, and she unfolded her limbs and stood, then started to walk. Halfway around the castle, she broke into a jog to make better time. She passed the moat and skirted around the routes her guards walked.

The going was easier from there. She made a wide circle around the walls of Castle Town, since the drawbridge barred the only way out. Finally, she was out in the open Hyrule Field, and could follow the road. The sun was nowhere near rising, but she had the moon to guide her, and the stars twinkling far above.

In what felt like no time at all, the road was sloping downwards into the vast canyon of Gerudo Valley. The air was colder here, so close to the chill of the desert wind. Zelda walked quietly, her footsteps soft but sure on the path. She heard the rush of the river far below as she crossed the plank bridge. And then, suddenly, the Gerudo Fortress loomed before her, crouched over the land like a bird of prey. Most of the fortress was illuminated by lanterns, and she could see the guards patrolling the grounds by the light of their torches.

Zelda hung back in the shadows, contemplating her first move. She had to speak to Nabooru, who was the only Gerudo she really knew, but she wasn't sure where to find her. She could present herself to the nearest guard, but dressed in simple clothes, with no crown and her braid tucked into her cloak, Zelda looked like any sixteen-year-old. She had no way of knowing whether they would recognize her and bring her to Nabooru, or simply throw her in a dungeon cell.

There was a sudden soft _thud _behind her, and Zelda whirled around, her hand snaking down to reach for the knife in her boot. But she was too late. Something struck her hard in the back of her head, and brilliant pain exploded in her skull.

Before Zelda could even scream, the world went black.

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	19. lacquer

**notes 1: **whew. Sorry guys, I've been busy crying over Naruto.

**notes 2: **Nabooru is a babe ok ( ¬‿¬)

**disclaimer: **I don't own Zelda.

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><p>.<p>

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Link threw himself to the side and dropped into a roll just in time to dodge the charging goddess. He jumped to his feet and whirled around, pulling his shield from his back, to face his opponent.

Majora stood before him with a silver rapier in each hand, her face devoid of emotion. Her dark violet magic had formed a sort of dome encompassing her, shimmering in the torchlight. Link had seen its like the last time he had fought her, on Termina's moon: it acted as a shield to guard from his attacks. But every shield had its gaps, and every gap had its opportunity.

"I don't want to fight you," Link said even as he racked his brain for battle strategies. He wasn't lying, but he knew how inevitable this was.

She pointed a rapier at him. "You leave me no choice, Hero. I know you will interfere if I don't stop you here and now."

Without warning, she charged at him fast as a blink. He barely had time to bring up his shield as one of her rapiers came lashing out, glancing against his shield. She thrust again with her other hand, and he sidestepped it quickly.

Suddenly, hundreds of purple spheres shot towards him, honing in on his position. He lunged to the side, dodging them all—a small explosion burst up where they landed on the forest floor. Link kept running, his eyes trained on Majora's shield. When he saw it ripple, he drew a bomb out and lit the fuse quickly, hurling it in Majora's direction. It exploded upon impact with the shield, and he saw the magic crack in a few places.

She turned towards him, her cold, multicolored eyes glowing strangely. All at once, the torches lighting the clearing flickered out.

Link cursed inwardly as gloom swallowed him up once again. He felt he could hold his ground in the light, but without his vision…

"It is alien to you, but the Dark World has become my home over these past few years," came Majora's voice. He whirled from side to side, trying to find its source, but it seemed to flit back and forth all around him. "It is quiet and uneventful—the perfect place to plan a coup. Best of all, my sisters have no power here. So I began to gather an army—feral beasts lurking in the wild, the remnants of Ganondorf's minions…but it was not enough. So I started to take people, one by one, and turn them, body and mind. The Dark World was an excellent training ground."

"Don't you realize this is wrong?" Link shouted back. "You should be protecting your people, not hurting them. If you want to reclaim your place as a goddess, stop attacking Hyrule!"

She laughed lightly, sounding very close to him. "You are still naïve at heart, my dear Hero. Tell me, don't you know what it's like to do whatever it takes to finish your mission, no matter how right or wrong you think it is? Do you truly believe that my sisters have done such a fine job ruling the world?"

Link bit down on his lower lip. He was not exactly the religious sort, but he had never doubted the goddesses' existence. He and Zelda, even Ganondorf, were slaves to a cycle begun long ago; chained to one another to fight a hopeless, eternal battle. But that war had begun when the Demon King attacked Hyrule, and the Demon King had been a creation of Majora's. Regardless of who was to blame, couldn't the all-powerful goddesses have stepped in? Or did they enjoy watching the squabbles of tiny mortals?

All this passed through his mind in a split second before, rather than answering the question, Link dropped his shield to the ground and nocked an arrow, drawing back to his ear and mentally searching the darkness in front of him. It was a risky shot at best, but he had pinpointed her voice. Link imagined her standing before him, analyzing her height and aiming for the heart. Then he released the bowstring and prayed for help, even if the goddesses didn't deserve his prayers.

Whether through skill, luck, or divine intervention, Link's arrow struck true. He heard Majora howl in pain and rage, and he fumbled to grab up his shield, stepping back hastily. White light exploded before him, so bright it felt as though he would go blind. The source of the light was Majora's figure, silhouetted against the colors. He watched as she began to grow, rising up and up until she towered above the trees.

"_You dare to harm the goddess of magic?!" _Majora thundered, her voice booming through the forest and making Link clap his hands over his ears. This was her true form, he could tell—huge and towering, glowing a blinding violet, her features nearly erased by the light surrounding her. Link nearly dropped to the ground, but he locked his knees stubbornly as the raw power of a full-fledged goddess washed over him.

Then there was a huge hand shooting towards him, almost too quickly to comprehend. He could see the sky in between Majora's fingers—there were stars glittering above, even here in the Dark World.

That was the last thing he saw.

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Zelda blinked her eyes open and squinted at her surroundings, her vision coming into focus slowly. The cell's walls were stone, lit by torches. A glance out the high window that it was still night; she must have only been out for a few hours. Zelda rolled her neck, working out the kinks her muscles, and assessed her situation. She was tied to a chair, her legs and arms bound by thick rope that chafed her skin. It was almost flattering to be deemed such a threat.

A Gerudo woman stood before the door with a spear in her hand, glaring at Zelda through the sheer veil that protected her face from the desert sun. She bore the dark skin shared by most Gerudo, as well as deep red hair cut to the base of her neck. "So, the princess has finally woken up, huh?" she said in a rough, gravelly voice, accented with the dialect of the desert.

Zelda fixed her gaze on the soldier's feet, face blank. For a moment, she had been afraid that her identity was uncovered, but that couldn't be. If the Gerudo knew that they had captured the monarch of Hyrule, Nabooru would have been notified, and Zelda probably wouldn't be tied to a chair right now. 'Princess' was apparently just a condescending nickname. That meant she was suspected of being a criminal, and there was only one way to get her way out of that.

So she sank deep into her own mind, immersing herself in the tapestry of lies she had woven over the years. It was something Zelda had learned to do a long time ago, both to remain steel-faced through her father's ridicule and in case she was put into a situation like this one, where the truth would simply not do. She had so many stories created in her head that any interrogator would be hard-pressed to catch her off guard.

Zelda looked back up at the Gerudo and burst into tears.

"D-don't kill me," she sobbed. "Please! I never meant no harm, miss, I swear!"

Her captor rolled golden eyes behind the veil and gave an exasperated sigh. "You were approaching our fortress in the dead of night, hooded and cloaked. The only thing you had on your person was the clothes on your back, and this." She held up the small knife Zelda had carried in her boot.

Zelda widened her eyes. "My da gave that to me, to keep me safe," she whined. "'The road's a dangerous place for a lone girl, Lizzy', he said. That's what he told me, miss!" She struggled at her bonds, trying to jerk her hands out of the ropes. "He's sick! I've got to get back to him!"

The Gerudo woman made an sound at the back of her throat. "Why did you come here, then?"

"I didn't mean to, miss!" Zelda cried, squeezing fresh tears out of her eyes. "I just got lost, is all. We live in a farming village, me and Da and my brothers, southwest of the castle. I made for there when the fever took Da. The best doctors live in the castle. I thought the queen would help! But it was dark and cold, and I got lost, but I saw your lights in the distance, miss."

The soldier leaned against her spear, shifting from foot to foot. "What proof do I have that you're telling the truth?"

Zelda hung her head as if in defeat, her golden braid slipping over her shoulder and draping down to her lap. Tears rolled down her face and landed on the fabric of her ragged dress, soaking through to her skin. _Impa would be proud, _she told herself.

Her voice came as a whisper. "Only my word, miss," Zelda rasped. "For all that it's worth."

Her eyes remained fixed on her lap in the silent moments that passed. Then she heard a quiet sigh, and the hinges of her cell door creaking as the guard left the room and turned the key in the lock outside.

Zelda sat up and stared at the now-empty cell. If she was Link, she would have broken the chair against the wall to free herself and scaled the wall to escape the fortress. But she was not Link, and she even if escaping had been her desire, she doubted she'd have the physical strength to do what he could. So she sat, and waited, and waited.

Finally, the door swung open and Nabooru strode in, long ponytail swinging behind her. She wore a scimitar at each hip, and her wrists, neck, and forehead glittered with Gerudo rubies. Behind her was Zelda's guard.

Frowning, Nabooru planted her hands upon her hips and gave Zelda an analytical look. Then her eyebrows rose ever so slightly, and the frown on her lips became a smirk. She walked around to Zelda's back, and Zelda heard the metallic _shing _of a drawn scimitar.

"Nabooru—" the guard began to protest, but the blade had already come slicing down. Zelda only flinched a little, and then the ropes fell from around her arms and legs. She stretched, stood, and turned to face the leader of the Gerudo.

"Hello, Queen Zelda," Nabooru drawled, offering a hand. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Zelda took it in her grasp. "We have work to do," she said, squeezing Nabooru's hand.

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	20. bone marrow

**notes 1: **shoutout to PhoenixCaptain! Thank you for all of your reviews!

**notes 2: **I'm bringing a few other characters into the light for the next few chapters, rather than focusing solely on Zelda and Link. I'm excited for it!

**notes 3: **I headcanon the Gerudo leaders as being elected—they aren't treated as royalty but as equals with a seat of authority. They rise to power based on merit, not heritage. Before Nabooru was the chief, she was a simple soldier who grew up as Ganondorf's childhood friend. That's why you see this informality between Nabooru and her people/Nabooru and Zelda.

**notes 4: **Also, I think Saria and Link are basically siblings. I _really _hope no one interprets this as a romantic relationship, cause I think that's kinda screwed up, especially after the time gap.

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda does not belong to me.

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><p>.<p>

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The guard was gaping at Zelda as if she had just grown a second head. "The...the _queen_?" she sputtered out, her face a mask of disbelief. A Hylian would have dropped to her knees and begged forgiveness, but the Gerudo never bowed.

"I'm sorry for the deception," Zelda said with a sheepish smile. "My name isn't Lizzy. I am Zelda, queen of Hyrule."

The other woman was turning red. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Would you have believed me?" Zelda asked, looking down at her clothes, simple to begin with and now covered with dirt from her climb down the castle wall. "I don't look very much like a queen. And if you hadn't believed me, what would you have done with me? I couldn't take that risk."

"Go back to your post," Nabooru ordered the guard. "I can take it from here." She took Zelda's arm and led her out, past rows of cells and out the door, into the cold desert night.

"You being here does not mean anything good for my people, I take it," Nabooru said as they walked.

Zelda let out a breath, watching it puff in the air, and pulled her cloak closer around her body. "I'm afraid it doesn't. Have you heard what happened to my castle? You have spies in my city, I know." It wasn't like Zelda resented her for that; far from it. Any leader with a grain of sense kept herself informed on other world powers. It was expected.

Nabooru snorted out a laugh. "Nothing gets past you, I see. Yes, I have heard. And I know that the Zora and Goron have disappeared. I can guess that the Kokiri are gone as well." Zelda nodded in confirmation. "You think we're next, don't you?"

"You and I are the only Sages left," Zelda explained. "I don't know where or why the others were taken. I don't know why I was spared. But I know that you have to be next; it just makes sense. I shudder to imagine the intentions of whoever is responsible for this…this catastrophe. I had to come alone, or the public would find out, and there would be mass panic. They're already afraid, understandably."

Nabooru stopped at the edge of a rocky ledge, where the land dropped off and became desert. Zelda gazed out upon it, all the miles of endless sand stretching out forever—it was beautiful and frightening. Nabooru eased herself down on the ledge and let her legs dangle over the cliff's edge, patting the rock next to her. Zelda sat down obediently.

"What are you asking of me?" Nabooru said finally.

"I was…I _am _the leader of the Sages, and the blood of the royal family runs through my veins. Link tells me that the other Zelda was a brilliant sorceress…but all that knowledge was lost to me when she sent Link back here. But you know magic—you're a Sage. I'm asking you to teach me, Nabooru. Please. Together we can stop this next pit from opening and save your people."

Nabooru's exhale came out as a hum, long and low in her throat. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, fiddled with her long red ponytail. Zelda stayed silent while she thought it over.

"All right," Nabooru relented at last. "I'll teach you."

Zelda's shoulders dropped and she let out the breath she had been holding. "Thank you," she said, relieved. "I'll have to keep coming at night. I still have a kingdom to rule during the day."

"Then when would you sleep?" Nabooru asked, snorting. "It's a short journey for me. Cut out a few hours from your schedule for me, and I'll ride to the castle to meet with you every day."

"Oh, thank you," Zelda repeated. She was willing to give up a few hours of sleep for learning magic, but this was much better this way.

A moment of quiet passed between them; there was nothing but the wind howling through the desert. "I would have asked Impa, but…she's gone," Zelda admitted after a minute.

Nabooru tilted her head back to look up at the blanket of stars above them. "And…the hero?"

Zelda squeezed her eyes shut at the emotions that rushed through her, turning her face away. The words were lodged in her throat. She'd tried so hard for the past few days to keep herself so distracted that she had no time to worry, but the fear wouldn't leave her. It was worse than all those times she had watched Link ride away on Epona, praying for his return. This time, she felt like the fear had taken up so much space that she hardly had room for hope.

Her eyes flew open as Nabooru's arm dropped around her shoulders. Zelda had never thought of her as a very affectionate person. "Men," the Gerudo chief sighed softly. "They give you nothing but trouble, but your heart stays with them all the same."

Zelda's eyes widened. Only one Gerudo man was born every century. "You don't mean—"

"I do," she interrupted, eyes hard. "Ganondorf was arrogant, and power-hungry, and foolish. But he was an idealist, too, brilliant and ambitious. He wanted to help his people—in the beginning, at least. Believe it or not, he was capable of kindness."

Zelda tried to wrap her head around that. There was black and white in everyone, but this was the man who had plotted to kill her father and take Hyrule for himself—the man who, in another life, had succeeded, and thrown Hyrule into seven years of misery. It was hard to imagine him being kind. "You speak about him like he's dead," she said.  
>"He is, in my mind. He has to be." Nabooru lowered her head and met Zelda's gaze. "But your hero…he's a different sort. Very different. When he came to me to tell me I was the Sage of Spirit—this tiny, solemn ten-year-old who acted like he was eighty—I felt I had to believe him. His story sounded insane, but something about the look in those eyes made it all true."<p>

Zelda drew her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She felt bone-tired, and her heart was heavy, and if she'd been alone she might have let herself cry. Nabooru placed a warm hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing in gentle circles. "He fought through hell and back to reach you in a different life, didn't he? I see no reason why he won't do the same again. He's a brave boy."

"Yes," Zelda agreed, proud but sad. "He is."

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Something prodded him in the shoulder, reaching towards him through the dreamy haze. "Wake up," a voice said.

Link groaned and rolled over, dragging his tired eyes open. The world was a blur at first, the only light a dim orange glow. His hands came up to press against his pounding temples. He felt bruised all over. "Zelda?" he mumbled.

He heard an exasperated sigh. "Guess again."

Link blinked a few times until his eyes focused and peered up at the figure above him. "Impa?" he said in surprise, moving to sit up. Hands landed solidly on his shoulders, pressing him back down. That was probably for the best; he felt like he was going to be sick.

"Not so fast," she ordered. "I fed you the potion you had, but you should wait before moving." She looked like she had aged ten years in the past few days. Her hair appeared even grayer than it had been the last time he'd seen her, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She wore her habitual leather jerkin meant for combat, but instead of a dagger she held only a torch.

Then it came back to him. His fight, Majora's rage, the huge glowing hand towering over him before he blacked out. "What happened?" Link gasped. "Where's Majora? What are you doing here?"

"I don't rightly know the answers to any of those questions," Impa said steadily, crisscrossing her legs. "I awoke in darkness. As the Sage of Shadow, I thought I would have some power here, but it seems the Dark World is very different from ours. I stumbled around for...hours? Days? Time passes so strangely without the sun. And then I found this camp, and all the monster corpses and the Kokiri. Your friend Saria told me of the woman that captured them, and of your arrival. So after I freed them, I came looking for you, and found you here, half-dead. It was a good thing you had that potion."

"The Kokiri are safe?" Link asked.

Impa nodded. "They're up there," she said, gesturing up the path that led back to the village—or where the villagewould have been, if they were in Hyrule. "What happened to you?"

Link slung an arm over his eyes. He couldn't remember anything after the image of that glowing hand reaching down towards him. But he felt like he'd gone through a meat grinder, and if Impa had found him here half-dead, that could only mean one thing. He felt shame sink in his chest. "I fought Majora," Link admitted grimly. "And I lost."

With his arm over his face he couldn't see her expression, but he knew she'd be narrowing her crimson eyes. "What kind of Hero of Time are you?"

"The kind who has trouble defeating immortal goddesses by himself," Link said wearily. Under normal circumstances he might be angry, but now he just felt tired. Impa and he had never gotten along very well, especially in this lifetime. Before, she had seen him in action, and helped him save the world. Now all she had was his word of what happened. They tolerated each other, but it was mostly for Zelda's sake.

He uncovered his eyes and dragged himself up into a sitting position, his body heavy and sluggish from the effects of the potion and whatever injuries he had sustained. Impa made no move to stop him.

"Look," he sighed. "I really don't feel like fighting with you. We're trapped in the Dark World together, like it or not. I'm sure you've figured out by now that the missing people have been brought here too. If we want to save them, and find a way back to Hyrule and Zelda, we're going to have to cooperate."

"Fine," Impa said curtly and got to her feet. "The first thing to do is get the Kokiri organized." Somehow, Link gathered his legs underneath him and stood. He swayed for a moment, his head swimming and bile rising in his throat. When he realized Impa was watching him, he blinked to clear his vision and brushed past her to head up the path.

The soft glow of a campfire greeted him, as well as hushed, frightened whispers. Where they'd been full of energy and joy the last time he'd seen them, they now looked despairing and afraid. _What kind of goddess drags children from their simple lives into a world of fear? _Link wondered silently, and his hands clenched into fists.

She was perched on a log near the fire, her limbs pulled close to herself. She stared into the flames, eyes dark, as the camp grew quieter at Link and Impa's approach. "Saria," Link said, and opened his arms. Her head snapped up, and she sprung off the log and crashed into him, making him rock back. He had to squeeze his eyes shut at the wave of dizziness that swept over him. But with Saria's skinny arms locked around him like a vice, that didn't seem to matter.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner," Link said hoarsely. Gently, he eased her off of him but left a hand resting on her shoulder. He looked up, surveying the rest of the Kokiri. There weren't many, only about a dozen in total. They were huddled together, small and scared, but their eyes were all fixed on him. Even Mido, his old childhood bully, had his face turned towards Link.

"Listen," Link began, making his voice sound confident than he felt. He _had _to be stronger than he felt, or they weren't getting through this. "You're safe now. I know it may not seem like it, but Impa and I will protect you from any threat. I may not be one of you anymore, but you raised me. I've known you all my life. I can never pay you back for that. But I'm willing to risk my life to get us all home. Are you with me?"

The response was slow. At first, Link thought they were going to ignore him, but there was a shift of breath and Saria put a reassuring hand on his arm. Fado stood first, her bare feet padding on the grass. Then stocky boy who worked at the store followed her, then the Know-It-All Brothers, and child after child rose tentatively, their faces pale but determined. Mido was the last, but he stood all the same.

Link grabbed a stick from the ground and lit it in the fire, and the others followed suit until they all carried makeshift torches. Then someone doused the fire, and the Kokiri clustered around the two adults. Impa took the rear, and Link took the front with Saria by his side.

"I won't fail you," he promised, and set off, wondering how exactly he was going to do that.

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	21. needles

**notes 1: **I'm so sorry for the delay. I'm not entirely sure I'm past this writer's block, but after a month of staring at a blank Word document I decided that enough was enough. so I told myself I had to write one decent chapter before the new year. Just know that I _am _trying, and that I appreciate your patience.

**notes 2: **on a happier note, I hope everyone had a great holiday (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ and if it w_asn't _so great, I hope things get better!

**notes 3: **also, this is chapter 21, holy crap. Can you believe this fic is over 6 months old?

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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Licking his dry lips, Link peered out into the darkness. The air was eerily still and quiet but for the hushed murmurs of the Kokiri behind him. The children huddled on the grass whispering amongst themselves, or leaned against one another to catch a few moments of sleep. Link felt a pang of guilt, watching them—if he didn't find food and water soon, the Kokiri weren't going to make it.

Link sat overlooking their small camp, his hand on the crude spear he'd made by sharpening a stick. It wasn't much, and he wasn't very experienced with spearfighting, but his bow was practically useless in such limited visibility. Saria was next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She'd said she would stay up with him to keep watch, but she'd fallen asleep anyway—not that he minded. She needed rest. Link did, too, but he didn't want to leave Impa to keep watch alone.

His wasn't sure how much time had passed since Impa had found him in the forest—the lack of sun made it impossible to tell. It felt like eternity, but he knew it hadn't been that long. The torches still burned well, though they wouldn't last much longer. He and Impa had decided to head northeast, for Zora's Domain, which wasn't far from the entrance to the forest—in Hyrule, at least. The silhouette of the Pyramid of Power was just barely visible against the dull red sun, which they used as a reference. Link's body was still weak and sluggish from whatever Majora had done to him, and hunger and dehydration weren't helping any. But he kept going, for the Kokiri, for Zelda, for himself.

He let a few more minutes pass, then looked across the throng of Kokiri to Impa. She nodded at him and began shaking the small boy by her feet. "We're leaving," she said in a low voice. "Wake up." The boy rolled over and blinked his eyes open blearily, disturbing the others around him.

He nudged Saria, who drifted awake slowly and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Are you all right?" Link asked.

She took a breath, let it out, and gave him a small, brave smile. "I'm okay. Are you?"

Link smiled back and got to his feet, pulling her up with him. "I'm fine. We're going to get through this."

He helped Impa rouse the rest of the Kokiri, and soon enough they were on their way again, a tiny cluster of light in a world of darkness. Link was at the lead with Saria next to him, and the children followed, bare feet quiet on the dirt. Impa brought up the rear, her keen senses alert for threats.

When Link first heard the sound of flowing water, he felt more hopeful than he had in ages. He lifted his head and lengthened his stride, and he could feel the others shift as well, murmuring in anticipation. It was all he could do not to rush forward recklessly. When they reached the river, they all ran forward and dropped to their knees at the water, thrusting their faces in and drinking deep. Link sucked down gulp after gulp greedily, letting the cool liquid soothe his parched throat. Around him, the Kokiri were laughing and sobbing in relief. It was as if the water had brought back all the life in them, and they were just children again, the way they were supposed to be.

He scrubbed the grit off his face and hands as best as he could and filled his water skin while he gave the others time to celebrate. Then he looked around at their surroundings. They seemed to be at the edge of what he assumed was the easternmost part of Zora River, just before the lips of the cave that led to Zora's domain. And as he'd suspected, there was light coming from up the trail.

Link crossed over to Impa, who was dipping a canteen in the river. "We have company," he told her quietly.

She glanced up the river, then looked back to him, unsurprised and unfazed. "The Zora are up there somewhere," she answered. "They need our help. And these kids can't come with us."

Link nodded in agreement and walked back to Saria. She was dangling her feet in the river and smiling at the cool relief it brought her. He crouched down beside her, wondering how to begin this conversation. "Saria," he said hesitantly, "Impa and I need to go upriver. The Zora are likely in danger. We'll be back soon."

Something flashed in her eyes—concern, fear, he couldn't tell. "I'm coming with you," she said immediately. Link shook his head. "I'm a Sage!" she insisted. "I can fight!"

"I know," he said gently. "And that's why I need you to stay here. The Kokiri are defenseless; they can't follow us into danger like you can. Watch over them. They need you."

Saria opened her mouth as if to protest, then closed it after a moment's consideration. "You're right," she sighed. "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," Link promised. "And thank you. I mean it."

He doused his torch in the water and pulled out his bow, sliding his makeshift spear under the straps of the sword scabbard at his back. The torchlight here would allow him to see, which meant he could use his bow, though he still longed for the weight of his sword in his hands. Then he joined Impa at the water's edge, and together they forded the river and made their way up the path.

They moved silently, footsteps swift but cautious on the packed dirt beneath them. Torches lined the walkway, casting an eerie orange glow onto the river lapping below them. The first Moblin had fallen asleep on its guard duty, drooling against the short iron gate that barred the way to Zora's Domain. Link passed by the Moblin and clambered over the gate, turning when he heard the sound of drawing steel.

Impa had pulled the Moblin's broadsword from the sheath and was reaching for the monster. "Stop!" Link hissed, lunging to stop her, but it was already too late. The blade bit deep into the Moblin's skin, opening its throat from ear to ear. Impa stood and vaulted over the gate, keeping the sword in her hand. She didn't seem to care that there was blood dripping from its blade onto her leg.

"Why would you do that?" Link gasped in horror, looking from the corpse to her. "It was asleep! It wasn't a threat to us!"  
>"But it would have been, had it been awake," Impa said pointedly. "We'll be coming down this same path with dozens of Zora. Why not kill it now and remove the danger? Isn't that something that being a hero should've taught you?"<p>

"No!" Link snapped. "_Never _kill when you can wound. And never wound when you can avoid hurting others altogether! That's what I learned."

"I did what was necessary," Impa replied, stoic as ever. "We can fight about the morality of it later. Right now, the Zora need our help." With that, she brushed past him and kept going.

Link sighed and ran his hands over his face. She was right; they couldn't afford to be at odds with each other when so much was at stake. This place was messing with his head. He spared the dead Moblin a last glance, giving it a silent apology, and followed Impa up the hill.

They met little resistance the rest of the way, only a few guards that could be dealt with quickly by his bow or Impa's blade. In no time, they had reached the cave that led to the home of the Zora. Just before Link prepared to jump the gap, he heard the river behind him begin to churn. Ripples were forming in the water, below the cliff where he and Impa stood. He seized a sizeable rock and took aim; it had to be an Octorok.

When the creature emerged, Link drew his arm back and threw, watching as the rock hurtled down towards his target. Too late, he recognized pale fins and a slender form, neither of which befit an Octorok. The rock hit home with an ugly smack and a very humanoid shriek of, "_Ow!"_

Wincing, he peered over the edge of the ledge to get a closer look. His victim was a Zora, and one he knew well, at that. "I'm so sorry," he called down. "Are you hurt?"

"You _idiot_!" After a long-winded outburst of curses, Princess Ruto glared up at him, one hand rubbing her head resentfully.

"I thought you were an Octorok!" Link said apologetically. Behind him, Impa gave a cough that sounded like a smothered laugh.

"Goddesses," Ruto grumbled. "I would hit you back, if it wasn't so good to see your face."

"Where are your people?" Impa asked.

Ruto's face fell, and her violet eyes grew clouded. She looked unharmed, but exhaustion and worry weighed down the corners of her lips. "I was the only one who got out," she murmured.

Link exchanged glances with Impa. "Got out?" he repeated. "Did they capture the Zora? If we catch them by surprise, we should be able to take them down together."

Ruto shook her head, droplets of water dripping from her earrings. "It's not that. This woman, this awful woman…she froze our home. And my people are frozen with it."

Link's heart slid down to the pit of his stomach. The same thing had happened during Ganondorf's reign, but he didn't have the Master Sword this time, or Sheik to guide him. He wasn't even sure that the Water Temple would hold the key to unfreezing Zora's Domain now. There were too many things to consider. He restrained a growl of frustration.

From the river, Ruto gasped. "I have an idea!"

Impa shifted, looking down at the Zora. "What is it?"

"If we're going to save my people, we're going to need heat. We're going to need the Goron."

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	22. radioactive

**notes 1: **shoutout to TheEagle1989. You've been so nice, and I really appreciate the reviews!

**notes 2: **I just checked Zeldapedia and Zelda Wiki and apparently the plural of Goron is Gorons and the plural of Zora is Zoras. oops. so that's how I'll be referring to them from now on.

**notes 3: **Link has been in the Dark World for about three days. This chapter takes place the day after Zelda went to the Gerudo Fortress. Most of the stuff that Link and Zelda are doing go on at the same time.

**notes 4: **I'M SO PUMPED FOR MM3D HOLY CRAP

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda does not belong to me.

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><p>.<p>

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The light felt warm in her palm, like steam coming off a hot bath. A slow smile spread across Zelda's face as she watched the pink glow resting in her hand, and she swiped the sweat from her forehead with her spare arm. Nabooru had spent most of the day teaching her how to meditate, how to feel and use and control the magic within her. Even so, it had taken her all of an hour to summon this tiny gleam of light. It required a great deal of concentration and willpower.

It didn't feel like enough, though. She didn't know how long it would be before the Gerudo were threatened, but she had to find a way to keep them safe and get her people back. And a way to see Link and Impa again.

"I have to admit it—I'm impressed," Nabooru said from her spot on the bench a few steps from Zelda. "It was days before I got the hang of it."

Zelda let the light fade away slowly, then sat down next to Nabooru and smoothed her skirts. They were in Zelda's favorite garden, where she had ordered her guards to give them privacy for a few hours. Winter was creeping in, slow but inevitable, reaching its freezing fingers into the land. The day was clear and bright, but all of her garden's flowers were withered and dead.

"I had a good teacher," Zelda said finally in response, rubbing her forearms to ward against the chill. "Thank you."

"That's about the millionth time you've thanked me, kid," Nabooru said wryly, nudging Zelda with her elbow. "Helping you will help keep my people safe, I hope. Besides, those bureaucrats of ours need to learn that the Gerudo and the Hylian races can get along just fine, huh?"

Zelda chuckled and folded her hands in her lap. She'd always liked Nabooru, but most of her council and nobles didn't share the sentiment. They only saw the Gerudo as the thieving nightmares that Hylian parents used in stories to scare children into eating all their vegetables. She suspected the situation was similar among the Gerudo authorities. Maybe one good thing to come out of this disaster would be a strong alliance between the two nations.

"We're going to have to find a way to close that pit, if one does open up in my fortress," Nabooru said. "Do you know how to do that?"

"Not for certain," Zelda admitted. "But I've been doing research. The pit that opened up here pulled people from this world to…somewhere else. My theory is that all those people have been taken to the Dark World."

Nabooru was staring at her with furrowed brows. And so Zelda explained the hours she had spent scouring the library when she should've been in bed, reading every book on magic, history, and the supernatural that she hadn't already read. Hylian scholars had discovered the world that was linked to theirs by tearing open the fabric of time. Of course, everything she'd uncovered had been unbearably vague and difficult to decipher.

Halfway through Zelda's explanation, Nabooru had stood and begun to pace back and forth in front of the bench. Now she stopped and placed her hands on her hips to face Zelda. "What's your plan?"

"I'm thinking that we can find a way to reverse the magic creating the pit. People were taken from our world to the Dark World. If the opposite were true…"

"Then we could bring people from there back to Hyrule," Nabooru finished. She pondered it for a moment, tapping a forefinger against her chin thoughtfully. "But you'd risk bringing back whatever else is in the Dark World. Assuming, that is, that we can actually figure out how to do this. There are too many risks."

"I know it's dangerous, but I'm not suggesting that we rush into this blind," Zelda reassured. "Is there a safe place somewhere in the desert where you can bring your civilians for a while?"

"I have been thinking about that," Nabooru admitted. "We have a few waycastles on the border, but they couldn't hold many people. There is the Desert Colossus, but it's a long and perilous journey for the children and the elderly."

"Then bring them here," Zelda offered. Nabooru's eyes widened. "It's not going to make my nobles happy, but I can deal with that. We have enough provisions, and there aren't too many Gerudo who are noncombatants."

Nabooru sat down next to her, letting out a breath. "My people are not beggars."

"No, but what choice do you have?" Zelda asked evenly. She'd expected this kind of response. The Gerudo were stubborn, independent, and above all, proud. "It's what is best for the people you lead. Besides, I am _offering_. Accepting generosity is not begging."

Nabooru was silent. She stared straight ahead, elbows leaning on her thighs with her chin resting on her clasped hands.

"Let me tell you what I'm proposing," Zelda began, rubbing her thumb over the Triforce mark on her hand absently. "We get the civilians out of your fortress. We find a way to keep your soldiers from being sucked into that pit—whether we have to keep them indoors, tie them to the ramparts—whatever we can figure out. I'll commit some members of my own guard as well, if you will accept them. Then we set a strict sentry schedule—we want many guards awake and alert at every hour of the day. Tomorrow, I will come to stay at your fortress—I'll make up something about diplomatic relations to keep my court calm and oblivious. You'll continue to teach me magic. And on the day that the pit opens, we position archers above it, and you and I work to reverse the magic. If the worst happens and what comes out is hostile, our warriors shoot it. If it's not…well, then there's nothing to worry about."

Nabooru raised her eyebrows. "You've become quite the strategist, for one so young."

Zelda flashed a grin. "I _am_ the queen of a nation."

"I see one hole in your plan," Nabooru said. Zelda knew exactly which hole she spoke of. "The people in this Dark World…they may be imprisoned, or trapped, or…I don't know. What if they're there, but we can't reach them? What then?"

Zelda pressed her fingertips to her head and rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of the headache that was forming there. This plan of hers was built on quicksand, no matter how hard she thought it through. But she had no choice—all of Hyrule was depending on her. And Link was down there. "I don't have a solid solution for that one. That's why I'm going to the Temple of Time today."

Nabooru frowned as Zelda stood, brushing off her dress and straightening the tiara on her head. "Why the Temple of Time?"

"I have to speak with Rauru," Zelda replied. "The Sage of Light."

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From across the path, Link met Ruto's eyes and nodded. The two of them burst out from behind their boulders and took on their enemies—a Wolfos for him, a Lizalfos for Ruto. Link leaped up and landed on the monster's back, his weight making them both crash to the ground, and jabbed down on its throat with the end of his bow. Its windpipe collapsed, and it died snarling and choking. It was a painful way to die and a disgusting way to kill, but he didn't have many options.

Link stood and looked up to see Ruto stepping away from the Lizalfos, which was frozen into a solid statue. She was tucking a flask of water around her waist—it looked like one that Impa had given her. There was a look on her face—controlled but struggling—that told him she wasn't used to killing. And why would she be, in a timeline Link was always fighting to keep peaceful? Maybe he should have taken Impa, but someone had to watch over the Kokiri, and Ruto wasn't experienced enough for that. Silently, Link dropped a hand on her shoulder, then let her fall beside him as they continued up the path to Death Mountain.

It was almost unbearably hot, and the glow of lava lit their way up to Goron City. They proceeded quietly, taking monsters out here and there on the way. There was no Goron City in the Dark World, though. Here it was a deep quarry, lined with crude wooden walkways that spiraled down and down. The sound of fists and metal bashing against rock echoed through the cavern. Sticking to the shadows, Link and Ruto crouched at the edge of the platform to peer to the bottom of the quarry.

There were Gorons scattered through the quarry, hammering at the rock with their powerful hands. Link could see the gleam of metal—they were extracting silver from the cavern. At first, Link didn't see anything wrong. Then he spotted the monster guards stationed next to every Goron—Iron Knuckles, it looked like, with long whips in their hands. The Gorons had manacles binding their wrists and ankles together. Link watched as one of them stumbled, his hands ceasing their steady pounding of the rock. The Iron Knuckle raised its whip.

Ruto lunged forward, and Link barely had time to catch her arm and haul her back towards him. They watched as the whip fell against the Goron's vulnerable front, the sickening cracking sound reaching even to the top of the quarry, once, twice, a third time. The Goron slumped for a moment, then set his fists to the rock once more. Rage coiled in Link's chest, hot and searing.

"We have to do something!" Ruto hissed, pulling her arm free from his grasp.

"We _will_," Link said. "But you can't rush into things like this. You'll get yourself killed!"

Ruto huffed and dropped her eyes in a way that meant she knew he was right. Link turned his gaze back to the Gorons and the monsters guarding them, counting carefully. The monsters had them outnumbered ten to two, and there was too much light from the torches for a stealth attack to work. But Link spotted at least twenty Gorons. If there was a way to free them…

"Can you freeze off their chains?" Link whispered to Ruto, his eyes tracking a Darknut as it patrolled far below them.

Ruto tugged on one of the purple earrings dangling from her ears, her face thoughtful. "The air here is so dry and hot that it's not going to be easy," she said. "But if I was quick…yes, I think it would work." She raised her eyes to meet his. "Will this work? I mean, the Gorons are weakened, and there are only two of us…I'm not even sure how much help I'll be in this environment."

"It's what we have," Link replied, pulling an arrow from his quiver and nocking it to the bowstring. Then he gave Ruto a nod.

She uncorked the flask at her side and took a deep breath, her eyes falling shut. The water flowed out, floating as if it had a mind of its own, and split off in different directions. Link watched as it attached itself to the chains binding the Goron closest to them; neither he nor the Iron Knuckle seemed to notice. All through the quarry, the same thing was happening—the water grew colder and colder, until it froze. The Gorons stopped working, looking down at their hands and feet in confusion. Link saw several of the Iron Knuckles raise their whips.

And the Ruto's eyes snapped open, and all through the cavern, Link could hear the metal shatter.

Chaos erupted. The Gorons had no idea what had freed them, but they launched themselves at their enemies just the same, barreling them with huge, powerful fists. Link took very careful aim at an Iron Knuckle, closing his right eye to improve his vision. They were armored nearly head to toe, but he knew where the chinks were. There was a spot on the Knuckles' necks between the helmet and the gorget that was unprotected. Link waited for just the right time, then released his arrow. It flew straight and true, dealing a killing blow. He drew the next arrow.

At his side, Ruto was weaving a tapestry of water and death. Water flowed from victim to victim, filling their airways and drowning them, or using force to shove them off the walkways and send them falling to their deaths.

The Gorons in battle were a fearsome sight to behold. Though they were simple people, they were stronger than any other race by far, and their rocky hides made much of their bodies impenetrable. Even the Iron Knuckles—several hundred pounds of armored muscle—could be overcome by Gorons.

Eventually, the last enemy fell. Ruto swayed and stumbled; Link caught her by the arms to steady her. The heat and lack of moisture weren't good for a Zora, and using her Sage powers had tired her out.

"You did well today. Thank you. Can you walk?" Link asked as he unstrung his bow and strapped it to his back.

Ruto scoffed and raised her chin, the very picture of a princess heir. It almost looked like she was blushing at the compliment, but it was too dark to truly tell. "Carry me," she ordered primly.

"_Really_?" Link groaned, but he was thinking of another time, when he'd been ten years old and chasing a spoiled little Zora girl through a whale's belly. The memory actually made him smile—it felt like it had been so long since he'd genuinely smiled. He crouched down to let Ruto climb onto his back, then hoisted her up, hooking his arms through her legs. Then he made his way down the wooden platforms that lined the quarry.

The Gorons had gathered at the bottom floor of the cavern, mumbling to one another in their rough, gravelly voices. When they saw him approach, the conversation stopped. Link scanned their faces. Some of them looked familiar, but their leader was not with them.

"You saved us," one of them said. Link realized that they were looking not at him, but at Ruto. The words rippled through the crowd, bringing gratitude and admiration.

"We're glad you're safe," Ruto said to them. "We're going to find a way to get home." She looked through the crowd and realized that someone was missing. "Where is Darunia?" she asked.

The Gorons said nothing in response. Two of them peeled off from the group, telling Link and Ruto to follow him. They navigated through a few tunnels, leading further underground, until they reached a cage.

"They released Ice Keese in here, and let them freeze a wall," their guide explained. "It's unnatural. It should've melted. Can you do anything?"

And so Ruto slipped off Link's back, her bare feet padding against the rocky ground. She placed a hand on the ice, brushing her fingers against the ice wall, then nodded to herself. All at once, the ice became water, and crashed down around them.

Darunia, Chief of the Gorons, Sage of Fire, turned around to face them. It looked like he'd been trying to tunnel himself out of the prison; he'd already made a significant dent in the wall.

"Hello, Brother," he said, his eyes meeting Link's, his face splitting into a big grin.

And then, he reached in to give Link one of his rib-crushing hugs.

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	23. rise again

**notes 1: **by the way, I've still got quite a ways to go with this story. The end is not nigh, in case you are wondering.

**notes 2: **we aren't given a whole lot of information about Rauru in OoT, so I read up on him in my Hyrule Historia. Apparently he is _really _old, and built the Temple of Time on the ruins of the Sealed Temple (from Skyward Sword) to defend the Triforce during the Era of Chaos, which takes place a few hundred years after SS and a good long time before OoT. It was basically a time period full of war and conflict as greedy factions fought over the Triforce. so, in conclusion, he's seen some shit. and has learned a lot of shit too, which is why he knows all this stuff.

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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Link lifted the Zora woman out of the water by her waist as she braced her cold, clammy hands against him. She was gasping and trembling with cold, but seemed otherwise unhurt. Her people could withstand cold temperatures for longer than any other race. He set her down next to the others, on one of the ledges on the perimeter of Zora's Domain.

Darunia had melted the ice slowly and carefully, pressing glowing red hands to its surface and letting the heat seep into it. Ruto and a few of the healthier Zoras were still underwater, hauling people back to the surface while Link, Impa, and the Gorons pulled them out of the water and to the fires the Kokiri had built. The forest children tended to the Zoras, rubbing the warmth back into their half-frozen skin.

_Now all that's left is the people from Hyrule Castle, _Link thought, watching as six Gorons struggled to haul Ruto's father, the Zora king, out of the water. But even after everyone was free, what would they do? They were all looking to Link and the Sages for help, but the fact remained that none of them had any clue of how to get out of the Dark World—if there _was _a way out.

Ruto burst up to the surface, towing a little boy with her. She handed him up to Link, who lifted the child out of her arms and turned to the group of Zoras behind him. A woman burst forward, crying in relief, to take her son from Link's grasp.

"It looks like that's everyone," Ruto said as she pulled herself up onto the ledge. She looked much better than she had a few hours ago; being in the water helped her regain her strength. And her people's safety must have come as a huge relief.

"When can we move?" Link asked. "We should make for the Pyramid of Power as soon as your people are ready. That's where we'll find the people from Hyrule Castle, I hope."

Ruto rubbed her forehead. "It would help if we could find food. Our real domain is filled with fish, but here there's not a minnow to be seen. We've been down here for…who knows how long?" She let out a hot breath and dropped her arms to her sides. "I'll get them ready to move as soon as possible. If we don't find a way back to Hyrule soon, we'll all starve."

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The Temple of Time was silent, the only sound the click of her shoes against the marble. Zelda had told her guards to wait outside; she didn't think anything could threaten her here. Afternoon sunlight filtered in from all directions through the tall windows, turning her hair into gold. The mark of the Triforce was engraved in gold above the Door of Time, though the door had been sealed tight for six years. Zelda knelt before the three Spiritual Stones where they floated above their pedestals and bowed her head, giving the Goddesses her regards.

Then she stood, her skirts rustling around her, and stepped up to the small dais in the center of the room, marked by another Triforce with the sigil of the Sage of Light in its center. Zelda had only met Rauru once—six years ago, when she and Link called together the Sages in this very building. They'd come to the agreement that the Sages should know of their power, even if the circumstances weren't as dire as they had been in the dark future Link had prevented. Regardless, they wanted the Sages to be ready to protect the Sacred Realm if the need ever arose. She remembered Rauru as wise and kind, and so willing to sacrifice the rest of his life to guard the Temple of Time.

"Rauru?" Zelda called softly. "It is Zelda, the Leader of the Sages. I need your advice."

A curtain of shimmering blue light fell over her gently, and suddenly she was no longer in the temple but in a vast cavernous room. The same blue light surrounded her in all directions, cascading down like waterfalls that went on forever. She stood at the center of a hexagon, and in front of her was the Sage of Light.

"It is good to see you, Your Majesty," Rauru said, inclining his head towards her and lifting a hand out, palm open.

"Where am I?" Zelda wondered as she took his hand and clasped it.

"This is the Chamber of Sages, at the heart of the Sacred Realm. Most cannot enter so easily, but you are one of us. What calls you here today, my dear?"

Zelda let out a breath and pulled away from him, curling her hands at her sides. "Have you been watching?" she asked. "Have you seen what's happened to my kingdom?"

Rauru nodded gravely, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his long orange robe. "These are dangerous times. I would like to lend my aid, but I must guard the Sacred Realm, as always. I considered calling my fellow Sages here, but it seems four of them have been stolen from us. As well as the Hero, and so many others."

"They're in the Dark World," Zelda said. "I'm sure of it. That's why I'm working with Nabooru to learn magic so we can get them back. But there's a problem—when the time comes, I don't know if the people in the Dark World will be ready. Link is down there, and I know he'll be doing whatever he can to find the people who were taken and help them…as will Impa and the other Sages. But I think…I think they'll need to be close to where the portal opens for me to bring them through. And that brings me to you. Do you know of any way to send a message to the Dark World?"

Rauru furrowed his brow and stroked his mustache. A moment of silence passed as he thought. "Possible for the average person?" he mused. "No. But you—a Sage, a royal, a Triforce bearer—perhaps there is a way. You are an intelligent young woman, Your Majesty. By now you must know that you and the Hero are bound together by the hands of the Goddesses."

Zelda pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. She was trying very hard not to think of Link these days; it would only drive her insane with worry.

"I believe you may be able to reach out to him through that fateful connection," Rauru went on. "It is advanced magic, but you are strong, and I will walk you through it."

Zelda gathered in a deep breath and steeled herself. "What must I do?"

"Nabooru taught you to meditate, yes?" She nodded, and Rauru continued. "Use those techniques to travel deep within yourself, to the root of your power—to your soul. Then send your soul out of your body, out of this temple, out of Hyrule—to find the Hero's soul. Relay your message while you are there, but do not linger—staying too long could cause indeterminable damage to both of your minds."

"But how will I find his soul?" she asked. "He could be anywhere."

Rauru smiled for the first time that day, his eyes crinkling at the edges. "Your soul and his soul are old friends, are they not? You know him, Your Majesty."

Inexplicably, Zelda felt heat rise into her cheeks. She gave Rauru a nod. "I understand. Thank you."

"I will leave you in peace, then," he said, and the curtain of blue light lifted. Suddenly she was back in the Temple of Time, watching the dust float through the air in front of one of the windows. Zelda settled down in the center of the Triforce symbol on the dais, crossing her legs and closing her eyes.

She breathed in, out, in, out, and let everything around her fall away, diving deep into the dark waters of her mind. A steady, immovable calm fell over her as she drifted further down. And there was the only light—a blue flame, small and humble, but burning steadily. Her soul. Zelda took it in her invisible mental hands, cradling it.

What would Link's soul look like? _You know him_, Rauru had said. And Zelda did. She knew his hands, the calluses from long years of gripping a sword, the way they could tremble or build or fight. She knew his eyes: the fierceness, the pain, the courage, and the shadows that lay within their blue depths. She knew his voice, whether it laughed or cracked in bitterness. She knew his willpower, his selflessness, his kindness. She knew his guilt, his fear, his loneliness.

She had known him for a hundred lifetimes, for centuries upon centuries. She knew him better than she knew herself. And suddenly, she knew how to find him.

Before Zelda's eyes, a gold thread appeared, one that lead far away. And she followed it, knowing it would lead her to Link. She shot up and up, towards the ceiling of the temple. Glancing down, she could see herself sitting with her blue skirts spread about, her golden head growing smaller as she rose. She passed through the ceiling and continued to fly; below her, her kingdom sprawled out like a tapestry. She kept going, up to the sky, up to the sun, until her vision went dark.

Then, Zelda was falling, looking down upon a reflection of the land she had just seen; but now it was shrouded in shadow. She streaked down towards what looked like a pyramid, catching only a glimpse of the dozens of people gathered outside. She fell through brick and stone until finally, she found Link.

He was fighting, pulling an arrow from the quiver on his back and taking aim at a monster. Around him, others were fighting—she almost wept with relief to see Impa, Darunia, and Ruto, beating back the enemies that advanced upon them. The room around them was dimly lit, and lined with cells. In the cells were people she knew well—her cook, one of her handmaidens, the captain of her guard, dozens of the people who kept her castle running. _They're saving my people_, Zelda thought, her heart full of gratitude.

Then the fighting was done. Link was crouched before a dead body, pulling an arrow from its flesh. Cautious, Zelda tried nudging at the edge of his consciousness, testing the water.

Then she slipped into his mind. Her soul was a tiny flame, quiet but strong—Link's was a raging inferno of emotions, clashing against one another chaotically. For a moment, Zelda was almost overcome by his thoughts—_I'm sorry_, he was telling the corpse in front of him. _I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt anyone. _

Zelda regained herself, and called out to him. _Link! _

She felt him jerk violently, a mix of reactions jolting through his head—initial joy and relief, followed by confusion and fear. _I'm losing it_, he thought. _She isn't here. _

_You're alive, _she breathed, trying to send back calm in response to the turmoil inside him. _I'm so glad you're alive. It's Zelda. We don't have much time. You have to—_

_How are you in my head? _Link demanded. _What's going on?_

_ Rauru taught me how to send you a message—but there's no time to explain. Listen, I'm going to get you all out of there! As soon as the people are safe, find your way to the Gerudo Fortress. I'll handle everything on my end. _

Zelda felt Link pause, turning over the idea in his head. Someone was calling his name, but he shut it out. He wasn't sure he believed her. Maybe he was going mad. Maybe this place was driving him crazy; maybe it was the exhaustion or the hunger or the dehydration. Maybe it had been there all along. Zelda felt the edges of her soul blur and stretch, and remembered Rauru's warning about staying in Link's mind for too long.

_Do you trust me? _ she asked.

_Absolutely, _he answered immediately, and the lack of hesitation told her it was true. _But—_

_ Then promise me! _she pleaded. _Promise me you'll be there! Promise me we'll see each other again!_

Hope rose inside him, shining and pure, and a resolve that was unbreakable. _I promise._

_ Be safe, _Zelda whispered, and withdrew from his mind. She began to drift up, along the golden thread that would lead her home. Just before he disappeared from her vision, she saw Link's face break into a smile.

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Zelda didn't remember the journey back to her body. She just knew that when her eyes opened, she was in the Temple of Time, sitting on the dais with her legs crossed. She stretched her stiff muscles and blinked her eyes.

"Well done, my dear," Rauru's voice murmured in Zelda's ear, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Well done indeed."


	24. undertow

**notes 1: **on Ruto and her crush on Link—in the child timeline they don't know each other as well as they did in the adult timeline. I imagine that they've worked together a few times, keeping the peace and whatnot, and I have Ruto as being the Zora ambassador to Hyrule Castle, so they've become good friends. But they never saved the world together, which I think was a big part of Ruto's initial feelings for Link. so she doesn't love him—and really, it doesn't seem likely to me that she ever truly _loved _him rather than just having a childish attachment to him. She probably still finds him physically attractive, but come on. who _doesn't _find Link physically attractive. just look at those thighs.

**notes 2: **I plan to publish the next chapter real soon—within the next few days, hopefully—since I know this one's a cliffhanger.

**disclaimer: **Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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"This is utterly impossible," Impa concluded.

Link said nothing in reply, but it was hard to disagree. A huge stone fortress loomed before them, like a hulking giant crouched over the land to await its prey. He could see spots of torchlight moving on the ramparts and inside the windows. A high palisade ringed the place, and a moat surrounded it.

At the first sight of the fortress, they had smothered their torches and made for the rocky cliffs that would hide them from the guards. Now, they all huddled behind the rocks, trying to come up with a plan—Link, the Sages, and over a hundred refugees. They were all exhausted and hungry, and the monsters clearly outnumbered their warriors.

"Don't say that," Saria protested, trying for a smile. "We have four Sages and the Hero of Time. And there are people who are still strong enough to fight."

"We have very few weapons, and those we do have are poor," Impa pointed out. "We haven't eaten in who knows how long. Many of us haven't slept. We have helpless civilians to protect. Even removing all of that, they outnumber us, and this is their fortress. We don't stand a chance. We must turn back."

"But what choice do we have?" Ruto argued. "How else will we get out of the Dark World? If you have any ideas, I'm happy to hear them!"

"I'm with Ruto," Darunia rumbled. "If Link and the princess both think this is best…"

"_We will all die_," Impa bit out, spitting out the words like poison. "Are we really considering this? Relying on the voices in Link's head?"

"Too far, Impa," Darunia growled, a warning in his voice. "Zelda has royal blood. She's a fellow Sage. And she has the Triforce of Wisdom. She is fully capable of communicating with Link. You of all people should know that. You _raised _her."

"We shouldn't fight," Saria pleaded. "This gets us nowhere!"

"_Enough_," Link snapped at last. "Zelda will not leave us to this place. If you don't trust me, then trust her."

"Either we go out there and fight this battle as best we can, or we stay here and die of starvation," Ruto said. "I don't know about you, Impa, but I'd rather go down fighting—if it even comes to that."

Impa threw up her hands in exasperation, admitting defeat. "Fine. How do you suggest we go about this?"

They spent something like an hour formulating a battle plan and organizing their people. It wasn't enough time, in truth, but Zelda had told Link to get to the fortress as soon as possible. He couldn't ignore the possibility that Majora would be there. It seemed likely that this was her base of operations, after all. The only thing to do was hope that he could hold her off before Zelda's plan—whatever that was—succeeded. He didn't think he could stand against a goddess in his current state. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, and there was a stabbing emptiness in his stomach where food should have been.

Finally, it was time to move. They assembled a small army of Gorons and Hylians—every able-bodied adult who could fight. Ruto peeled off from the group with the Zoras and went ahead to slip silently into the moat. The children and those who were too weak to fight stayed behind with the Kokiri, all except for Saria. Link and the few others who had bows leaned out from behind the rocks to take out the sentries that guarded the gates to the fortress.

Then Link darted forward with a group of ten behind him and made for the outside of the palisade that encircled the fortress. Once they pinned themselves against it, he waved the next group forward, and the next, until his people surrounded the sides of the fortress, leaving the front and back open. The sentries—monsters with poor eyesight—didn't notice a thing.

All at once, the moat below them exploded. Water surged up and swept towards the back of the fortress in a tidal wave—Ruto's work. Link could hear the monsters' screams as the wave rushed towards them and washed through the front, leaving Link's group unharmed thanks to Ruto's careful control. And with the water came the Zoras—he couldn't see them, but there were the telltale sounds of fighting inside the keep.

"Now, Saria!" Link called. She went forward and pressed both hands against the surface of the palisade, her eyes falling shut. Saria was the Sage of Forest, and wood had been alive once. As Link looked on, the stakes began to splinter and crack apart until the whole palisade came crashing down. Ruto's tidal wave hadn't lasted long enough to drown many of the monsters, but they were scattered, disorganized, confused. The Zoras gave them no time to regroup; Link didn't intend to either.

Once the wall was down, Link shouted for the charge, and they sprang into action. The Gorons curled into themselves and launched forward like an avalanche, crushing the monsters in their wake. Link and the Hylians followed close behind, wielding the few weapons they found on dead bodies and those they had crafted from wood or stone. Link held the crude spear he'd made from a fallen tree branch. They crashed into Majora's forces with a roar.

Link settled into a defensive stance and let the monsters come to him. Impa would've laughed to see it, if she hadn't been occupied with fighting—he was mimicking the style she used when she fought with her long bladed naginata. Across the courtyard, the wood from the broken palisade was moving again, and Link saw Saria launching the shards at an opponent.

Link lashed right as his first opponent—a Wolfos—approached him. The point of the spear caught the monster in the middle and slashed it open across the middle. It was dead seconds later. The song of battle thrummed through Link's veins, obliterating anything else. An ear-piercing screech at his back alerted him to the Redead taking stumbling steps towards him. Shifting his grip, Link used both hands to whip the spear around in a deadly circle, catching the monster in the skull and sending it to the ground. He ran it through before it could rise again.

Link looked up, scanning the chaos to measure their odds. Monsters were still pouring from the fortress and crashing into his forces, but his people were holding out well. Ruto stuck to the cliff, pulling water from the moat to attack her foes. Impa was dancing around a Lizalfos, dagger in hand. Darunia pulled a slab of stone from the ground to fling at the monsters in front of him. He spotted most of the Hylians, Gorons, and Zoras who had charged with him.

Someone was missing.

Link dropped his spear and grabbed a sword from a monster's dead body. It was of no great worksmanship, but it was real steel, and the sword was his true weapon. "Saria!" he screamed over the shouts of battle, turning in a circle in a desperate attempt to find a glimpse of her face. He'd been a fool to let her fight. Kokiri _didn't _fight. Sage wisdom or no, Saria was just a little girl.

Link plunged himself into the throng, kicking aside a Stalchild and slicing open a Lizalfos before it knew he was there. He could hardly see but for the glint of steel, and the press of people and monsters alike, and all the blood, blood everywhere. He kept carving his way through, killing everything in his way. Somewhere, Link felt pain, but it hardly seemed to matter. He had to find Saria. He had to.

Suddenly, he found himself on the other side of the fortress courtyard, past the cluster of fighting in the center. A dead Moblin sprawled facedown in the dirt by Link's feet. And there, curled behind a stack of crates, was a small, huddled figure. Link approached carefully. Saria had her legs pulled up to her chest, her face pressed in her knees. She was shaking. Link cast a glance over his shoulder and crouched down beside her. "Saria?" he said tentatively.

Her head rose slowly, revealing a trembling mouth and cheeks streaked with tears. It was then that Link saw the blood spattered over her tunic, her arms, her face. He raked his eyes over her small form, searching for the source and finding nothing. "Are you hurt?" Link asked, touching her arm.

Saria shook her head, and a sob broke past her lips. Then Link understood. None of the blood was hers. She raised a trembling hand to point at the dead Moblin. "Link," she choked out. "I…I…I killed—"

Link swallowed hard, swallowed deep, to keep down the scream forming in his throat. "Look at me," he said firmly, putting a hand under her chin and tilting her head up until she met his eyes. "It was you or him. That monster would have killed you, or someone else, someone innocent. It would have—"

"But _I _killed _it_!" she cried. "I'm the same. I'm the monster."

"_Never_," Link said fiercely. "Never. Not you. That's why you feel like this now. Because it hurts, because you regret it, because you hate yourself. That's what separates you from that monster." He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight as the sobs shook her body.

"Don't make me do it again," she pleaded into his shoulder.

"I won't, Saria," he promised. "Never again." Silently, Link was cursing himself with every word he knew. How could he have let this happen?

"We'll be home soon enough," he said as he pulled away from her. He hated to leave her, but the battle needed him. "Stay here. I have to—"

The air exploded with light as something crashed into the ground before him, like a comet wreathed in purple flames. Link shoved Saria behind the crate and reached for his sword, leaping to his feet. He already knew, with a sinking of his gut, what it was he faced. A small crater had formed in the ground from the impact, and fire raged around it. Beyond, the battle kept going.

Majora stepped out of the flames, her form silhouetted against the inferno. The silver armor she wore didn't melt from the heat; nor did her skin. Her dark braid swung behind her with each footstep, and her eyes stood bright and shining against her brown skin.

"Long time no see, Hero," she sneered. "I've watched you scurrying around for the past few days, trying to save your people and hold them together. Your attack on my fortress is an admirable effort, but sadly, it is not enough. You are no spellcaster, and there is no escape from the Dark World without a portal."

"I'll ask you again," Link growled, tightening his grip on his sword. "What do you want with us? There must be a way to avoid all this bloodshed."

She laughed. "For someone so jaded, you remain naïve. I must win back my rightful place in the heavens. And to do that, I need an army. It was going to be painfully easy to turn them—until you intervened."

Without warning, Majora pulled her hands back and drew from the fire behind her, pulling it into her hands like it was a tangible thing, easy to control. Link barely had time to react as the fire came hurtling towards him. He threw himself to the side, feeling the heat sear the side of his face as it streaked past. He ran towards Majora, feet pounding against the dirt, and dropped into a roll as another fireball whistled over his head. By the time he rocked to his feet he was right where he needed to be.

His sword came slicing up towards Majora's neck, but before he could blink she countered it with the silver rapier in her hand. Link couldn't even remember seeing it before now. He parried, lunging towards her middle to find an opening, but she blocked long before he got there. In all his years, Link had never fought anyone so fast. And she was unbelievably strong, for someone of a slender frame.

Majora lunged for him next, jabbing her rapier towards his chest, but he stepped back, letting the blade graze against the chainmail under his tunic harmlessly. Then he swept his sword up with both hands, as hard as he could, to meet hers. Link put enough force into the swing that Majora stumbled back.

She growled in frustration and pulled fire into her hands instead of counterattacking with her blade. Link prepared to dodge the magic, until he saw her pivot, aiming back in the direction he'd come from, at a stack of crates. _Saria! _ Link realized with panic, and by then he was already running. He ran past Majora, skirted around the small fires she had lit on the ground, ran as fast as he could. Already, Link could hear the flames approaching. His foot caught on something—the leg of the Moblin Saria killed—and went down, hard, onto the ground. No sooner had he fallen then he was up again, spotting Saria's form and pulling her into his arms.

He was too late. The fire caught him in the back and sank its fangs in, sending agony shooting up his body. Link screamed and dropped to the ground, rolling to kill the flames. But the flames weren't the true problem. His chainmail was a white-hot, boiling pain on his back, burning the flesh underneath. He could smell his own skin cooking, a sickening scent. Link collapsed, his vision blurring, unable to do anything.

Distantly, he could hear Saria yelling his name. A figure, silhouetted against the burning-purple air, was approaching them. Link tried to rise, but the pain was too much. _Get up, _his mind was screaming, but his body wouldn't obey. _She's going to kill Saria. She's going to kill Saria. Get up, get up…_

Through a hazy curtain of anguish, Link saw a pair of armored boots appear in his field of vision. "Pathetic," came the chuckle from above, and a surge of rage swept through him. "You are nothing."

"Leave him alone!" Saria shouted defiantly. Link's eyes fell shut. He struggled to open them again. _Get up, _his mind said again, begging this time. _She's going to kill Saria. _

"Foolish little Sage," Majora hissed, and Link saw her raise her rapier. "You never should have—"

Link grabbed his sword and pushed himself up with incredible effort and incredible speed. Before Majora could move, he had the blade buried in her stomach.

The goddess looked at him in shock, then down at the steel embedded inside her. The shock contorted into fury. "You would _dare_," she choked out, a thin line of blood leaving her lips and running down her chin.

Link dropped to his knees, his strength failing, his breath coming in heaving gasps. Saria was beside him, trying to support him, but she wasn't strong enough to make much of a difference. His vision was going black.

That was when the sky exploded, and a hole opened up above them.

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	25. rest your arms, rest your legs

**notes 1: **I AM ON A ROLL SON (⌐▨_▨)

**notes 2: **have you guys heard about the possible Zelda TV series on Netflix? what are your thoughts?

**disclaimer: **I don't own Zelda.

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Zelda's guard burst into her chambers in the middle of the night, startling her into consciousness. "It's started," the Gerudo gasped, and Zelda nodded in affirmation, not giving herself time to panic. As the guard left her room, she yanked on trousers, a tunic, and a pair of boots. She didn't bother with the laces; her fingers were shaking too hard. Finally, she grabbed the bow leaning against the wall and braced it against her leg to string it, then slung the quiver over her shoulder and launched herself out the door.

Breaking into a dead run, Zelda navigated the twists and turns of the Gerudo Fortress, her mind racing faster than her legs. She was reviewing everything she'd learned from the old library at Hyrule Castle, as well as what Nabooru and Rauru had taught her of magic. It was still a huge risk, but what choice did she have? Over half of her kingdom was missing. Failure was not an option. She just hoped Link had been able to do what she asked of him.

Finally, Zelda broke out onto the ramparts, looking for Nabooru. The fortress was in a state of controlled panic—the Gerudo were carrying out the orders Nabooru had pounded into them, but they were scared out of their minds. When she reached the parapet and saw what lay below, Zelda couldn't blame them.

The pit looked like it was born from darkness itself. It encompassed most of the fortress's yard, and it seethed with shadow. Zelda was suddenly very glad they had moved the Gerudo civilians to safety in Hyrule Castle.

A familiar, bone-shaking crack sounded through the air, reverberating in Zelda's ears. That dreadful force began to tug at her, drawing her to the pit. Zelda dropped to the ground, bracing herself against the parapet to keep from getting pulled in. When the pit had opened in her castle, Impa had locked Zelda in her chambers and boarded up the door, keeping her far away from danger. She'd still heard the sound and felt the pull, but not this strongly. It was horrifying. Luckily, they'd made sure that the guards would always be in a position where they could secure themselves.

Clinging to the wall, Zelda squeezed her eyes shut and let her soul wander, the way Rauru taught her. She extended her senses towards the pit, feeling the magic that controlled it. There was a _hunger _in it, an overwhelming need to consume. And an enormous power backed it up, a frightening power. Somehow, it felt very old and very angry.

If the portal—if whoever was behind the portal—wanted to pull, then Zelda would have to push.

On the ramparts, Zelda got to her feet, her hands extending towards the pit. She dove deep into the well within herself, the place where her magic lived. She drew it all up, and then lashed it out at the dark portal. Light burst from her hands towards the pit, bathing it in a stream the color of roses. The pit fought, thrashing under her magic like a bucking horse. Zelda struggled to keep it under control.

And then Nabooru was at her side, throwing her magic forward, orange like the desert sands at sunset. Zelda felt the strength of her fellow Sage thrumming through her bones, rejuvenating her. She fought back against the darkness, and she was winning.

She wasn't sure how long it took. But when Zelda opened her eyes, there was no dark portal in the yard. In its place, there were over a hundred people—Kokiri, Zoras, Gorons, Hylians from the castle. They looked like they'd been fighting; the Gerudo moved among them, taking the wounded away. A strange noise, like a laugh and a sigh at once, left her chest.

Zelda pulled away from the parapet, and suddenly she was running, crashing down the staircase that led down from the wall and stumbling once or twice. She heard Nabooru calling after her, but it didn't seem to matter. They were safe. She reached the courtyard, smiling at the people who flew by her. And somehow, she crashed into someone who smelled of leather. Zelda shut her eyes and breathed in as Impa's arms closed around her, hugging her tight.

"You're safe," Zelda mumbled, surprised to find tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad." She blinked, and the tears spilled over. There was a lightness in her chest—relief.

It was a long minute before either of them pulled back. They both had many questions, but only one was Zelda's priority. "Where's Link?"

Impa frowned and scanned the crowd, then pointed. Zelda sucked in a breath. He lay facedown in the dirt, unmoving. A young girl with pointed ears and strange green hair knelt over him; it was a moment before Zelda realized it was Saria. Zelda's heart was jammed up in her throat, her pulse going wild. For a long minute, she didn't breathe or move or speak.

Impa placed a warm hand on her back and propelled her forward gently, murmuring soothing words that barely reached Zelda's ears. Saria's head whipped around, revealing her frantic eyes, bloodshot and too old for such a young face. "Queen Zelda!" she cried. "Please, he needs a healer!"

The fear in her voice made Zelda wake up. "Impa, send for all of my court physicians. And do what you can for these people, if you're up to it." The Gerudo would do what they could, but there were so many wounded that they needed all the help they could get. She barely registered Impa's nod and retreating footsteps.

Zelda knelt beside Link and forced herself to look at the wound that marred his back. Most of his tunic had burned away, leaving only his chainmail and the undershirt beneath it. She could see the angry red flesh underneath. Gingerly, she peeled back the chainmail, pausing when his breath hitched in pain. She glanced down, but he was still mercifully unconscious. Burns in the pattern of his chainmail crisscrossed his back, and Zelda could feel the heat coming off of them. Next to her, Saria burst into tears.

Zelda raised a trembling hand to her mouth. "Goddesses," she breathed in horror. "Saria, how did this happen?"

The Kokiri girl only shook her head. Zelda stopped to get a good look at her for the first time; she hadn't seen Saria since she and Link called together the Sages six years ago. Then she had seemed wise beyond her years, but full of joy and mischief. This girl, looking lost and empty, was unrecognizable. What had happened in the Dark World?

That didn't matter now. Link needed her—all of these people did. Zelda caught the arm of a tall Gerudo woman, asking her to carry him to the infirmary and see that he was treated. Then she turned to Saria. "I know you've been through something terrible," Zelda said, placing a hand on the girl's arm. "But I need your help. Your people…will they be all right? I've heard that Kokiri die when they leave the forest."

Saria shook her head. "That's just what the Great Deku Tree said, to keep us safe. But…they'll want to go home. I want to go home."

Zelda gave her a warm smile. "As soon as I can, I'll arrange for a wagon and an escort to bring you back. But for now, we're going to protect you. Okay?"

Saria nodded solemnly. Zelda drew her to her feet and brought her to the cluster of Kokiri she saw, staring wide-eyed and frightened at the world around them. She led them like ducklings inside the fortress to the mess hall, where she sat them down and told them to wait for the cook to finish preparing a meal. When she was turning to go, she found Impa standing in her path.

"I have a favor to ask," Zelda said, taking her old friend's hand. "Will you please watch over the Kokiri. They're scared; they don't know what's happened or where they are. Get something to eat for them and for yourself. And then find a place to rest. You need it."

Impa nodded, and Zelda was on her way again. When she entered the yard again, she spotted the physicians who lived at her court—half a dozen or so, looking very confused and annoyed at having been dragged from their beds. She sent them to work.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Most of the people who had returned were in no shape to go home; from what Zelda heard, they hadn't eaten at all in the four days they spent in the Dark World. Besides that, there were many wounded to attend to, and they had to find accommodations for those who couldn't make the journey home. Several wagons of Hylians left for Hyrule Castle, since it was a short journey from Gerudo Valley. The rest were staying the night.

When the chaos had calmed, Zelda called together the Sages to meet in Nabooru's office. She left out Saria—it seemed cruel, after whatever happened to the girl, to make her speak of saving the world today. But still, she, Nabooru, Impa, Darunia, and Ruto gathered around a table, watching one another uncertainly.

Finally, Zelda spoke. "I…have been dishonest with you all. This catastrophe was something Link and I planned to handle on our own, after my father's death, to avoid widespread bloodshed. We still know very little about this evil we face, but I feel that you deserve to know." And then she recounted everything Link told her about Majora's Mask and what it had done to Termina; and what it had done since then. It felt like a betrayal, somewhat—he'd told her not to speak of this to anyone. But the Sages needed to know.

It was a long time before anyone replied. "This mask is what pulled us into the Dark World?" Darunia asked finally.

"I believe so," Zelda replied.

"There is more to this evil than any of us realize, I think," Impa mused, rubbing her forehead. "When I stumbled upon Link in the Dark World, he'd been fighting…something. Whatever it was, it did a number on him. Afterwards…he said something about being defeated by an 'immortal goddess'. I don't know if that was true…but what if it w_as_?"

Zelda knit her eyebrows together, swallowing hard. She had to speak with Link as soon as he was coherent.

"What kind of opponent was too powerful for Link?" Ruto asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.

She wanted to say that Link was not all-powerful, or immortal, or invulnerable. He was just a boy, and he lost and bled just like anyone else. But looking around the table, all Zelda could see was how tired everyone looked. She and Nabooru had spent the better part of the night closing the portal and running around to keep everyone from keeling over; the other three had just climbed out of what was very literally hell. Right now, her head hurt too much to argue with Ruto.

"Nabooru," Zelda said, "we owe you more than I can ever repay. You and your people have been patient and resilient and incredible through this whole thing, and none of us would be here without you. Thank you."

Nabooru allowed a small smile to quirk up her lips. "You did more than I, Your Majesty. Without your leadership, I suspect all of Hyrule would be in that pit today."

Zelda smiled back, touched by the praise. "I am not sure what we will face in the days to come, but I know I'll need all four of you. And Saria and Rauru, when they can join us. But for now, find a place to rest. You all deserve it."

They all peeled off one by one, finding various corners of the fortress to have some peace and quiet. Zelda went down the stairs and into the infirmary. The air here felt thick and oppressive with coughs and snores and moans as she located the door that led to Link's room. She'd asked for him to be held separately, knowing how his nightmares might disturb the other patients. Besides, most of the patients bore minor injuries. His were nothing close to minor.

Link lay on his stomach, the burns on his back cleansed and bandaged. There were several empty bottles of potion on the table next to his cot. There was a stool at his bedside, and she took it gratefully. His breathing was slow and steady—more labored than usual, perhaps, but not the breath of someone who was dying.

Zelda lowered her face into her hands, and waited.

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The next time opened her eyes, she had her cheek against the side of the cot. Zelda raised her head, rubbing at the spot where the mattress had left an indent on her skin.

She almost fell off the stool when she saw Link's eyes, fierce and very blue, watching her. His gaze was veiled by a curtain of sleep and pain, but the intensity of his gaze remained the same. Somehow, her hand found his without question, a port in the storm.

Gently, Zelda leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

It was only a few moments later that sleep pulled him under again. But not before his lips curled up into a smile, and he whispered her name.

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	26. sink of blood

**notes 1: **it's been _forever _and I don't even have an excuse? besides majora's mask.

**notes 2: **I had a weird Skyward Sword high school AU dream last night and it was so cheesy that I'm actually considering writing it HA

**disclaimer: **not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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"They say you walked out of the Dark World with your sword in your hand, leading the people home," Malon said wistfully, resting her chin on her palm. "They say the queen greeted you there, and closed the portal herself with magic. They say her eyes _glowed._"

Link snorted as he ran a comb through Epona's mane, pulling out a burr that had snagged in her fine white hair. She'd been at Lon Lon Ranch ever since he'd fallen through the pit over almost three weeks ago.

"'They' say a lot of things," he replied. "And most of it is false." The people of Hyrule were celebrating his and Zelda's victory, but he didn't share their joy. Majora had nearly beaten him twice now. He'd impaled her through the belly and watched her bleed, the last time—but he knew in his gut that she wasn't done. She would return, and this time, he planned to be ready.

"Still," Malon said from where she leaned on the stall door. "It makes for a wonderful tale. And I'm glad you're safe, fairy boy." He smiled in response. She grinned back and swept out the barn, pitchfork in hand, humming under her breath as she went.

Link settled the saddle on Epona's back and fastened the girth, then slipped the bridle over her head. He led her outside and swung up into the saddle, wincing as a sting laced its way up his back. The burns had healed into ugly, crisscross scars that marred his back, but they still pained him sometimes.

Urging Epona into a trot, then a canter, Link left the ranch and turned east. The ground rushed past him in a blur of color, and he breathed in deeply, pulling cold air into his lungs. It was the first time he'd been riding since returning to Hyrule; the doctors forbid it, and Zelda threatened to have him thrown in the dungeons if he did anything to reopen his wounds. It felt good to be out in the open again.

Epona slowed to a walk, her hooves clip-clopping on the wooden planks of the bridge to Kokiri Forest. Link dismounted at the entrance, leaving the horse to graze as she pleased. His eyes swept through the village. The stream chuckled as it ran through the clearing, but that was the only laughter he heard. Link saw the Kokiri going about their daily chores—one of the three brothers shucked corn outside his house; a girl hung laundry out to dry—but the joy that usually spread through the air was nowhere to be seen. The Dark World had hurt them all. It would take time for things to return to normal.

He spared his own house a glance as he passed by, but he didn't step inside. There was nothing there for him now. Instead, Link ducked inside the doorway of the hut next to his, not bothering to knock.

Saria sat at her table, threading a needle through a green garment. She looked up as he came in, then looked back down at her work. Link took a few uncertain steps, then sat down across from her. They hadn't seen one another in weeks. She and the other Kokiri had been escorted home a few days after leaving the Dark World, when Link was still drifting in and out of consciousness.

"How have you been?" Link asked.

Saria shrugged and looked up to meet his gaze. There were dark circles under her eyes, and he felt a pang of guilt. Link noticed her fairy resting on her shoulder, pulsing weak green light. "I'm fine," she said. "We're preparing from winter. Food stocks look good. Mido keeps ordering the Know-it-All Brothers around. I think he—"

"Saria," Link interrupted gently. "I didn't ask about food stocks. I asked how _you _were."

She said nothing in reply, just pulled her needle through the cloth again. Link shifted until he sat right in front of her.

"I know what it's like," Link murmured. "You think it's an easy choice, that it's just a monster, that's it's you or them. And in the moment…it _is _easy. Terrifyingly easy. And then you wake up, and you look at all the blood, and you realize what you've done…and part of you _dies _with them. Saria, look at me."

Saria tied a knot in the stitching, set down the needlework, and raised her head. Her chin was trembling, and there were tears in her eyes. He reached a hand up to touch her face. "Talk to me," he said. "I won't let you go through this alone."

She blinked, and the tears spilled over, rolling down her cheeks. "The Great Deku Tree told us that all life is sacred."

"He did," Link acknowledged. "But—"

"If he knew what I did…would he hate me?"

"No," Link breathed, his throat tightening. "You're home and safe, and so are the rest of the Kokiri. You have nothing to apologize for. Saria, listen, taking another life…it's hard, I know. But the Great Deku Tree doesn't love you any less for it. You did what you had to do. He'll understand that."

Saria's eyes fell shut, and he could see her turning his words over in her head, trying to make sense of them. Link didn't know what else to say. There were some things he couldn't fix, no matter how hard he tried. He tried to remember what he'd done the first time he'd killed something, what Navi had said to him, but it seemed a lifetime ago. Six years and countless monsters later, it still sickened him every time he pulled a sword from a dead body.

"What's important is that you keep going," Link said finally as he reached forward, pulling her into his arms. "You find a reason to live, and you hold onto it no matter what. That's how you survive."

"What's your reason?" Saria asked, her voice muffled against his shoulder. There were no sobs, but he could feel her tears soaking into his shirt.

Zelda's face flashed before his eyes, but he didn't speak her name. That was something too intimate for anyone else to know, even Saria. "The people I care about," he said instead, stroking her hair. "You, the other Sages, the innocents out there who need someone to defend them."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and pulled away. Her face was red and splotchy, but she wiped away the tears bravely.

"When you're ready, go and talk to the Great Deku Tree," Link advised. "Talking about it will make you feel better."

Saria nodded and reached for the green cloth piled on the table. She pulled the needle out and cut away the excess thread, then unfurled her work and handed it out to him.

It was a Kokiri tunic, green like the leaves of the forest in the heat of summer, but it was far too big for any Kokiri, and that could only mean one thing. "Your original one got destroyed in the Dark World," Saria mumbled. "You dove in front of the flames and saved my life. It's the least I can do to thank you."

Link accepted it, humbled. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you, Saria."

She smiled at him for the first time that day. It was small, and tremulous, and it reminded Link of how young she was.

But it was a start.

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Zelda stared down at the noble, her blue eyes devoid of emotion. In truth, he was beginning to irritate her. It had been a long day. The crown on her head was heavy and made her scalp itch, and her throne was remarkably uncomfortable. She'd spent the day solving land squabbles, dealing out justice, and listening to dozens of complaints.

But she let none of that show.

Her throne was on a raised dais in the back of the hall. The Hylian Crest was carved into the stone behind it, and the room was lined with stained glass windows that cast colorful shadows on the floor. The noble lords and ladies spread out before the throne in their finery, murmuring amongst themselves. Four guards stood at the base of the dais, two at the throne room's great doors. Zelda wore a dress of cream under a deep blue bodice, and sapphires dangled from her ears. Her hair spilled out from underneath her crown, soft and golden.

The noble in front of her was named Lord Bedford, and he was one of several who was raising an uproar over her covert alliance with the Gerudo. He believed that Zelda's council should be party to every one of actions as queen. She had dealt with him and his group as diplomatically as possible, but his endless screeching was taking its toll on her patience.

"Have you forgotten that Ganondorf once plotted to kill your father and steal his throne?" Lord Bedford was wailing now, pulling at his thin white hair. "Those desert savages are using you, my lady! Can't you _see_?"

"The Gerudo enabled me to bring our people back to Hyrule, my lord," Zelda said with courtesy that made her teeth ache. "I regret that I could not inform my court of my dealings with them, but I was well aware of what I was doing. Ganondorf acted alone, and his treasons were committed six years ago. I trust Nabooru. She taught me the magic that allowed us to reverse the portal, after all."

"The magic!" he repeated shrilly. "Magic is a dangerous tool, my lady! I cannot help but feel that…well…more checks must be placed on your power. You are only a young girl, and you have only just lost your father. Others share my opinion. And this…consorting with heathens in the desert…trusting in that whore Nabooru—"

"_Enough_," Zelda snapped, putting all the authority of her station in her voice. The hall was silent now; every noble in the room was watching her, their gossip forgotten. She stood, drawing herself up to her full height, and descended the stairs that led up to her throne until she stood before Lord Bedford, looking directly into his eyes. Her guards closed in to stand at either shoulder in case she needed protection.

"You have committed no crimes as of yet, my lord, so I will not throw you in the dungeons," Zelda said icily. "Even so, I suggest you tread very carefully here. Not in my presence, not in my castle, not in my kingdom will you ever insult my trusted allies. Do you think I am a weak ruler?"

The noble stumbled back a step, glancing nervously at the guards that stood on either side of her. Zelda could see sweat beading on his forehead. At least he was smart enough to be afraid. "I meant no offense, my lady—"

"Have you forgotten your courtesies, my lord?" she cut him off, raising her chin. "I am the queen of Hyrule. You will address me as 'Your Majesty', or I'll have your tongue out and you will not address me at all. I am every bit the ruler my father was, may the Goddesses rest his name. If you think my age or my gender make me weak, you had better think again. I will _not _hear you speak of placing control on my power again. I don't intend to rule as a figurehead. Am I understood?"

He nodded frantically, eyes wide.

"Good," Zelda said curtly. "You may walk freely. But consider this a warning—if I hear you or your friends speaking out against the Gerudo again, you'll be stripped of your lands and titles, and you'll spend a nice few years in my dungeons." She nodded to her guards. "Escort Lord Bedford out of my castle, please, and see that he has a carriage back to his home. I want no harm to come to him."

She watched as the guards closed in on either side of Lord Bedford. He cast one glance back at Zelda, then hurried away. The crowd parted to let him through, stirring the air with their whispers. Zelda let out a breath. Outside, the bells began to chime the hour; it was noon.

"I will see the rest of my subjects after lunch," she told her steward. "We'll convene again in an hour."

"Very good, Your Majesty," the steward replied, and Zelda made the long walk from her throne to the great doors at the front of the room, two of her guards peeling off to accompany her. She could feel the whole court's eyes on her as she walked out. Had she been too harsh on Lord Bedford? Perhaps she could have handled the matter more gently, but she wasn't going to sit by while he insulted her, not to mention the words he had used against Nabooru and her people. Besides, he wasn't particularly important. His family was old, but not exceptionally rich; they owned an estate and some lands but had little political power.

She was grateful to see that lunch was already set in her solar—roasted duck, freshly baked bread, and buttered vegetables. Impa was dealing with problems in a southern village with her soldiers, so Zelda ate alone, glad to have some time to herself. She still had more than half an hour to kill, so she settled down by the fire with a mug of hot apple cider, looking over the accounts the royal treasurer sent her.

There was a knock at her door. "Someone is here to see you, Your Majesty," one of her guards said through the wood.

"Come in," Zelda called, hoping it wasn't someone arriving with bad news.

Link stepped in, looking dusty from the road. Zelda gathered up her papers, sliding over so there was room for him on the couch. He sank down next to her, letting out a long breath. Their shoulders were pressed together.

"How did it go?" she asked quietly.

Link shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "As well as it could," he replied. "It's not going to be easy, but…I think Saria will be fine. It takes time."

Zelda took a sip of cider, reading the list of the crown's monthly expenses without really paying attention to the words. "Now that you're healed, we should talk about what to do next," she said. "I still have more than a dozen people to see today, and a meeting with my council to sit through…but tomorrow, we ought to go to the Temple of Time and call together the Sages."

Link nodded. Since he'd told her what transpired in the Dark World, Zelda had been thinking hard about their next move. The prophecy the giants gave them in Termina made more sense to her, now. It was the only thing they had to go on, anyway.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as she finished reading the accounts. Finally, she put the papers aside and drew her legs up on the couch, cradling the warm mug to her chest. "Was it like that for you, the first time you killed something?" she asked finally.

Zelda felt him stiffen for a moment, and thought maybe that was too sensitive a topic. "You don't have to tell me."

She didn't think he would speak at first, but he did. "It goes against everything the Kokiri believe," Link mumbled. "They don't eat meat, and even with plants they only take what they need. They don't even kill bugs. The Great Deku Tree keeps them safe, so they don't have to face any monsters. That's one reason it was so hard for Saria—and for me. And…I was ten. When you're that young, you don't…"

Zelda put the mug down. One of his hands was clenching into a fist. She pried his fingers open and wove her hand through his.

Her first kill had been a Redead when Majora's Mask attacked the castle. She'd felt guilt, gut-churning horror, disgust. But it had been swept away by the grief she felt over her father's death; now, it seemed like a bad dream. And Zelda was nearly seventeen, aware of herself and of what needed to be done to protect her people. She'd been raised for logical thinking and practicality; she didn't have the kind of conscience that Link did.

"Did it get any easier?" she said softly.

He laughed humorlessly. "Yeah," he murmured. "It did. And in a way, that's the worst part."

Zelda sighed and leaned her side against his shoulder. She brought up her arm to wrap around his back. "You're too hard on yourself."

"Maybe so," Link admitted, and tilted his head to rest his chin on the top of her head. "Maybe so."

They stayed like that until her hour was spent.

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	27. spiral staircases

**notes: **dunno if you guys have heard, but tumblr user hyruleheart is hosting a zelink week from March 29 to April 4. If you're interested in participating, check out this post post/113697228452/zelink-week-2015. I am planning to write a one-shot for each day, so keep an eye out for that too!

**disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda does not belong to me.

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><p>.<p>

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Rauru made a sound that was part hum and part sigh, and stroked his beard. The Seven Sages were finally together, spread out on their pedestals in the great Chamber. Link stood side-by-side with Zelda in the center of the Triforce carved on the floor.

"It is possible to send you forward in time, yes, but it is not easy," Rauru said. "Only one of you may go, and that one must be Link. He is the only one who can draw the blade of evil's bane."

Link traded glances with Zelda. As far as he knew, the gates of time had been sealed shut for six years. Only the power of all seven of the Sages would open them again, but it required all the power they had. It didn't surprise him that only one of them could go. All the same, he would have preferred for them to face this together.

"Are we even sure this is a good idea?" Ruto wondered. "All we have is the word of some oversized bearded men."

"The giants are the reason I was able to save Termina," Link reminded her. "They are older than the land itself. If anyone knows what to do, it's them."

"I have no desire to tell any of you what to do, but I am the Leader of the Sages," Zelda said. "This is ultimately my decision. It's the only lead we have on how to defeat Majora. _Return to that which sent you home_, they said. Link and I intend to follow their advice."

"What if we fail?" Nabooru asked. "He could be trapped in the other time forever."

"Then we had best not fail," Impa said curtly. Darunia and Saria were nodding their agreement.

"Very well, Your Majesty," Rauru said, inclining his head towards Zelda. Then he turned to Link. "When you are ready, use the Ocarina of Time to open the Doors of Time. We will aid in your passage. We will hold the Doors open for as long as we can, but do not linger there. You have two hours."

The curtain of blue light lifted up around them, and they stood in the Temple of Time again; stark walls and red carpet and the Spiritual Stones rotating in endless circles. Link swallowed, and met Zelda's eyes.

"I wish you could come," he said apologetically.

She shrugged. "I am needed here. It's what's best for Hyrule." She took his hands in hers. She wore gloves of pink silk, soft against his leather gauntlets. "Besides, you want to see her, don't you?"

Link looked at her long and hard. "Yes," he admitted at last. "But don't you want to go too? Don't you think the other princess would want to meet you?"

"Maybe she would," Zelda replied, smiling at him sadly. "But not as much as she'd want to see you. And the Sages must be united to make sure you get there and back safely."

Link exhaled. The truth was, he was afraid—afraid to see her again, afraid of what she would tell him, afraid that he wouldn't be able to let go. But it had been six years, and it was time to stop chasing a ghost.

He gave Zelda a nod, and she held out her hand, face up. Link pulled the Ocarina of Time from the pouch on his belt and placed it in her palm. For a moment she covered his hand with hers, and Link was reminded of standing in a vast expanse of blue sky in a different time, a different life. _When peace returns to Hyrule…it will be time for us to say goodbye_, Link thought. But now, he was returning to the place he thought he'd never see again.

"Just promise me something," Zelda said softly, looking not at his face, but at their joined hands. "Don't forget about me, all right?"

"Never," Link vowed. He pulled his hands from hers gently and turned his back on her as she raised the Ocarina to her lips.

The Song of Time began, low and lilting, as he climbed the steps. The Doors of Time began to creak open as if on their own, stirring up dust in the sunlit temple. Zelda's music followed him as he walked through them, eyes fixed on the chamber ahead.

The Master Sword stood resolute and vigilant in its pedestal, just as it had the day Link left it here. He did not falter as he wrapped his fingers around the hilt. Golden light shone forth from his left hand as the Triforce of Courage glowed for the first time in years. The blade slid from the stone with a soft metallic hiss, easy as cutting through butter. Link felt the sword hum under his touch as he raised it high. This was the sword he was born to wield—it was like greeting an old friend.

Blue light enveloped him, and then he was falling. Memories raced past him; brief images and snatches of voices. He held tight to a giant bird's crimson feathers, touched a stone girl's face, fought a purple-cloaked sorcerer—but then it was over.

Link's eyes flew open, and he drew in a breath. The Temple of Time looked the same as ever, and that was comforting. His hand was still curled around the Master Sword. He traced his thumb over the Triforce inscribed in the metal. He'd forgotten how good it felt to hold his real sword. It made the one on his back feel like a butter knife.

Link slung the blade through his belt and made his way out of the temple. Outside, the sky was a pale grey, and a light snow fell over him as he walked through Castle Town. The last time he'd seen this place, it had been a burnt ruin, crawling with Redeads and choked with smoke. Now there was no sign of the rubble, and the city was alive. New buildings of granite lined the streets, and market stands were set up in the square. People gathered around the shops, lounging around or haggling for products as snowflakes melted in their hair. Clear water was trickling from the fountain, and there were children throwing coins into the water for good luck. Link could see the wooden skeletons of new houses in the distance, swarming with construction workers.

It wasn't the sprawling city it had been before Ganondorf's reign of terror, but he found himself smiling as he made his way to the castle. In only six years, the people had transformed Castle Town from a place of death to a place of hope. Link had no doubt that Zelda had a large role in the change.

When he reached the gates to the castle grounds, two guards approached him, their faces hidden behind the visors of their helms.

"State your business," one ordered.

"I need an audience with the queen."

The guard who had spoken laughed. "Get lost, kid."

"Wait," his companion said. She lifted her visor to squint at Link and elbowed the other guard. "It's _him_, you idiot! The Hero of Time!"

The other guard's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Can't be. He's gone." Even so, the man pushed up his visor to get a better look. His eyes widened. "_Goddesses_," he muttered.

Link felt the breath go out of him. _They remember_, he thought. Suddenly, he was filled with the desire to turn around and run to Lon Lon ranch to see Malon and Epona, to ride to the Lost Woods and talk to Saria and the Kokiri, to go to the Gorons, the Zoras, the Gerudo—but he shoved it down. There was no time, and seeing the rest of Hyrule would only make it harder to leave. Besides, Zelda was waiting.

"Where have you been?" the man was asking. "Where's your fairy? Why—"

"Shut _up_!" the woman hissed. "The Hero doesn't need to answer your questions. The queen will want to see him. Do you want to make her angry?"

The other guard complied, and they escorted him to the palace themselves. The castle grounds were recovering as well. The lava pits had been filled in, and Ganondorf's castle was no more—there was a new Hyrule Castle now. It was humbler than the first, perhaps, but it still resembled the original. The guards led him across the drawbridge and inside the castle, where they paused at the giant doors that led to the throne room.

The female guard slipped inside, and was back after a moment. "You may enter," she said, though she was looking at him strangely. She and the other guard opened the doors to admit him.

Link found that his heart was hammering when he walked into the throne room. It felt difficult to walk, like his boots were made of lead. He could see a figure sitting on the throne, but his vision was blurry. He passed several guards who were walking in the opposite direction, out of the room. One step after another, Link reached the throne.

Strangely, it felt as though it took years for him to raise his eyes. She stood before the throne, one hand braced against its stone arm as if for support. Her skirts were soft rose, like the color of the dawn sky. Link traced his gaze along her strong shoulders, her long golden hair. The Triforce of Wisdom was glowing softly through her gloves, just as the Triforce of Courage was lighting up the back of his hand, the way it always did when reunited with another piece.

"Link," she breathed. Finally, he found the courage to look at her face.

She was older; he'd expected that. She stood taller, and her lips were fuller, her cheekbones higher. Her face was leaner and more refined. Small golden Triforces dangled from her ears, just like the day Link left her. Her eyes were as blue as ever, but damp with tears, and the look she gave him was part shock and part elation and part apprehension. The memories passed between them—two children in a blooming garden, music in the ancient temple, one long bloody fight that ended in blue sky all around.

"Zelda," Link choked out, and the image before him blurred with his sudden tears.

He'd imagined their reunion many times when he was younger—running to meet her, lifting her up in his arms, laughing in joy. He supposed those were a child's dreams; now it felt like he was wading through syrup, limbs clumsy and heavy. Link took one step forward, then another.

Luckily, she was faster. Zelda released her grip on the throne and flew down the steps of the dais, crashing into him. Before he knew it, they had their arms wrapped tight around each other. Link closed his eyes and let the tears spill over, breathing in her scent and tangling his fingers in her hair.

"Is this a dream?" Zelda mumbled into his shoulder, her voice wavering.

Link chuckled, though his throat was tight. "I hope not," he answered, hands rubbing slow, gentle circles on her back. He didn't want to let go of her, but he did anyway. This could only last so long.

Zelda was flushed but smiling, despite the tears running down her cheeks. "How are you here? The doors of time..."

"A…lot has happened. I came to ask your help."

She straightened her spine and swiped the tears from her face with gloved fingers, and all at once her regal face was on again. As she looked at him, the smile faded from her face. "You remember it all," Zelda said slowly. It was not a question.

He nodded. She let her eyes fall shut for a moment, then took a deep, rattling breath. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "That was…not supposed to happen. What about the others—Impa, Darunia, Ruto…?"

"They've forgotten."

She did not look surprised. "Then do I…does s_he _remember?"

This time, Link was the one who looked away. "Zelda, I came here to—"

Zelda put a hand on his arm. "Link, look at me," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "Does she remember?"

He didn't want to answer. She'd always blamed herself for Ganondorf's takeover, for her father's death, for Hyrule's seven years under tyranny—and for Link's role in the war. He understood her well enough to know that the guilt was still eating away at her, even now. But the last thing he would do was lie to her. Link gave her a small shake of his head.

He saw the pain flash across her eyes briefly, but she was Sheikah-trained, and a queen remained composed. Still, the color drained from her face. "Then you and Navi, you're…" Zelda trailed off and glanced around, realizing her mistake. "Where is Navi?"

"Gone," Link said, but the word didn't feel poisonous this time. It had been more than six years since his guardian fairy left. He felt no pain when he spoke; the wound Navi left had scarred over long ago. He only felt weariness—and, perhaps, acceptance.

"You're the only one who remembers," Zelda breathed, devastation in her voice. "That wasn't what I wanted. It must be…hard."

"It was," he admitted. "Still is. But I grew up and learned. It got better."

"You should not have been forced to endure all that you did, regardless. I should have been more careful. I should have—"

"Zelda," he interrupted gently, taking her by the shoulders. "Ganondorf was manipulating the king, plotting to steal his throne, and you were the only one who could see it. You were only ten, and you wanted to protect your father and your people. You did what you thought was right, without any way of knowing the consequences."

"You were ten too!" she snapped, pulling away from him. "And I used you. You lost your childhood, your home…you could have lost your _life_."

"You are not to blame for the destiny the Goddesses set in place for me. Zelda, look at me." She raised her head slowly. Her eyes were deep azure pools of sadness, and there were dark circles underneath them. He could see the regret that had been tearing away at her heart since the day he'd pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal and allowed Ganondorf to storm the Sacred Realm. Today, he wanted to put an end to it. "I don't resent you," Link said softly. "For any of it. I never have."

Gratitude flooded her eyes, and a relief too profound for words. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you."

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Snow made a fine blanket in the garden, dusting the tops of the plants with white and covering the stone walkways. Bright red berries peeked out between the branches of the holly trees, weighed down by an inch of snow. The pond was frozen over into a thick sheet of ice. The snowflakes were still drifting down in a soft, ghostly silence.

The air was sharp and bitterly cold, but neither of them desired to go back inside. They settled together on a stone bench overlooking the pond. Zelda listened to the story quietly and calmly, asking questions when she needed to, but otherwise keeping her thoughts to herself. Link could see the wheels turning in her mind, as befit her Triforce.

"As it happens," Zelda began, pulling her dark cloak around her shoulders, "I do know some about Majora. Hylia still lives in me. She _is _me. I remember Majora…as she was, not as she is now."

"I had no idea you had Hylia's memories," Link said. His past lives were a jumbled, blurry mess to him; it was impossible to tell where one ended and another began.

"The older I get, the more I remember. The memories come to me in dreams, sometimes," Zelda said, sounding almost wistful. A faint smile passed along her lips. "I was so strong, and so were my sisters. Din was fierce, Nayru was brilliant, and Farore was willful…Majora was the creative one. She loved beauty and strength. The Demon King was meant to be her champion, her knight, created to protect the people. But the magic corrupted him, and he became greedy. She never meant for him to hurt anyone. But we punished her anyway, and it made her bitter. That is why she returned."

"But how can we stop her?" Link asked.

Zelda's eyes dropped to the Master Sword hanging from his belt. "I never thought goddesses could be killed. But Majora is no longer a true goddess; no more than I am. I suspect the blade of evil's bane will do the job. And if need be…I believe the three golden goddesses will interfere."

Link snorted. He was supposed to be Farore's chosen one, but the only thing she ever brought him was death. "When have the goddesses ever cared about the troubles of mortals?"

"They might, when one of their own is involved." She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, shaking out the snow. "Is my father dead?" she asked suddenly.

The question took him aback. "Yes," Link said, reaching for her hand. "I'm sorry. Majora's minions killed him when they stormed the palace."

"I see." There was sadness in Zelda's voice, but no tears. Link supposed she had already mourned her father, years ago. "I had hoped…I had hoped that she would have more time to remain a girl. It seems the world has already made her a woman. Impa is by her side, though?"

"She is. And Zelda rules the realm with a kind but firm hand. She cares for the common folk, and listens to her advisors, and is forgiving when she can be but just when she needs to be." He paused. "How are things here?"

"They are well." When she saw his doubtful face, she shook her head. "Truly, Link. Ganondorf did more damage in his seven-year reign than I thought possible, but my people are remarkably tenacious. They gave me hope, and we are rebuilding at a speed I never anticipated. There is always much to be done, but that is a queen's life. I miss Impa's companionship and advice, and Hyrule misses the leadership of the other four. But I get to see them occasionally when they come out of the Sacred Realm."

The great bell tower in Castle Town began to ring. Link squeezed his eyes shut, counting the chimes that beat in time with his heart. His time here was over. "Zelda," he murmured. "Are you happy?" He wanted to be able to sleep at night after he left.

She gave him a small smile. "Some days are harder than others, but…Hyrule is healing, Link. So am I." Zelda reached up and touched his face. "And you?"

Happiness wasn't something that had ever been in the cards for him, but he was learning. "I'm working on it," he offered. That made her smile again.

They walked to the Temple of Time together. The snow was still falling from the pale grey sky. It coated Castle Town in a layer of white and silence. It made the air feel peaceful and serene. After they made their way to the Temple, they stopped before the Doors of Time, which were flung wide open since his arrival.

She lifted the crown from her head—the same simple golden diadem with a ruby in its center that she'd worn six years ago, when they fought Ganondorf together. Link watched as she held it between her hands and close her eyes. After a moment, the crown began to glow with rose-colored light.

"I want you to make me one more promise," Zelda said as she handed it to him. "Give this to her. I've put a piece of my soul into this crown. When she puts it on, she will remember everything that happened during the first seventeen years of my life."

Link accepted the crown gingerly and put it in his belt pouch. _Join together the one halved by time, _he thought. "Thank you," he said quietly, and the words were as true as the sunrise. His throat was growing tight. "For everything you've done. I'll miss you."

Zelda wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him tight. "Be safe," she whispered, the warmth of her breath stirring his hair. He could have stayed like that forever, his arms locked around her, but he didn't. Before he pulled away, he leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead.

Link took one long look at Zelda—the wisdom in her eyes, the snow melting in her blond hair, the small brave smile she gave him. It was a sight he wanted to remember.

"Goodbye, Zelda," he murmured. She nodded in return.

He turned and walked away, though every step was painful. He drew the Master Sword, _his _sword, and raised it high. The hilt was warm and alive in his palm, and that made Link braver.

Just before the blue light descended upon him, he saw Zelda raise a hand in farewell.

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	28. pearls

**notes 1: **zelink week was a blast so I'm going to do some shameless self-promotion and recommend that you guys read the stuff I wrote for it in my story Intrinsic. It's not all ocarina of time stuff, but I know that a lot of you just love zelink in general, so. go for it.

**notes 2: **I'm such a stickler for friendships within the Sages, man. There's so much _potential _there. Ruto is the mom friend, I just know it. She and Nabooru gossip and talk about hot men. Darunia is the one who wrecks shit without really meaning to. Impa disapproves of everything. Everyone dotes on Saria because she's adorable.

**disclaimer: **I don't own Zelda.

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><p>.<p>

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There was a part of Zelda that feared he wouldn't return. It was foolish and selfish, but the doubt was there all the same. It wasn't that she didn't trust Link—she _did _trust him, more than anyone besides Impa—but still, she did wonder if he would remain in the future with the princess he'd fought beside.

She'd brought a book to pass the time, but she found herself reading the same sentence over and over. Impa offered a game of chess, but with Zelda's current state of mind there was no hope for victory. She didn't play games unless she knew she could win. She ended up sitting on the steps in the Temple of Time, watching the dust float through the sunlight under the windows.

Nabooru had agreed to play chess with Impa, and the two of them sat cross-legged on the floor, frighteningly silent. Their personalities clashed often—Impa was serious and patient, Nabooru passionate and spirited—but they shared a love for brutal honesty and fine blades. Darunia and Ruto had left on a walk, both of them too restless to stand around waiting.

"He won't abandon us, Zelda," Saria said quietly from the step just below her. The Kokiri girl turned to look at her, all soft green hair and soft blue eyes. She had a childish innocence about her, even after what had happened in the Dark World.

"I hope you're right," Zelda replied.

"I know I am," Saria said with a small smile. "He wouldn't leave Hyrule to Majora. And he wouldn't leave _you_."

"You've known Link since he was young, haven't you?" Zelda asked.

"Oh, yes. Since his mother brought him to the Great Deku Tree. He was only a little baby then."

That sparked Zelda's interest. She moved down a step, to sit right next to Saria. "Will you tell me about him?"

The time ticked by more quickly than she expected. Saria was finishing a story of how Link had once saved Mido from Deku Babas when Ruto and Darunia returned, each carrying a bag full of cream pastries from the bakery. Saria's face lit up in delight when she tried one; since the Kokiri lived on fruits and vegetables, the pastry was a new and welcome experience. Zelda ate hers slowly, savoring each buttery bite. Then she started to tell Saria about the mischief she and Link had gotten into as children capering about Hyrule Castle.

"Checkmate," Nabooru declared with a smirk, and Impa's mouth twitched to the side in shock and displeasure. Zelda was impressed; Impa was very hard to beat at chess.

When the bell chimed to mark the hour, she stood, her pink skirts rustling around her. She offered Saria a hand and pulled the girl to her feet. Impa and Nabooru were packing up the chessboard, and Darunia was stuffing one last pastry in his mouth while Ruto scoffed at him.

They gathered together before the Doors of Time, waiting. Zelda kept her breath steady and clasped her hands together to hide their shaking. Impa dropped a warm hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. Out of the corners of her eyes, Zelda could see Ruto and Nabooru standing close together, murmuring to each other quietly. On her other side, Darunia had a big hand on Saria's head, patting her hair like a father to his daughter.

It was not long before the blue light filled the chamber where the Master Sword was kept, and relief flooded through Zelda. Link always came back. She'd been paranoid and faithless to doubt that.

She slipped out of Impa's grasp and walked forward to meet him. The Master Sword was still in his hands, strangely, and he was staring at the blade. He looked up at Zelda's approach.

There were a thousand things on her mind, but all she said was, "Welcome home."

Link met her eyes, blue on blue, and grinned. He looked different, somehow—he stood straighter and smiled wider. He waved at the Sages gathered before the Doors, then turned back to Zelda, lifting the Master Sword. "She said I'm going to need this to defeat Majora."

Zelda drew in a breath to ask about the other princess, about what had happened, but then she let it out. It was better not to press him. "How are you?" she said instead, touching his arm.

"I feel…good," Link replied, sounding surprised at his own words. "I feel complete. I didn't think I'd ever get to see her again. Even considering the circumstances that brought me there…you and the Sages gave us precious time together. And now I know that she's going to be all right. We can both move forward."

"Good," she breathed. "Good. That's what you deserve."

His eyes darted to the Sages, then back to Zelda's face. "There's something else," Link said in a low voice. "But let's get out of here first."

She nodded and followed him as he went to greet the other Sages. Before they got there, Saria ran forward to hug him, fastening her skinny arms around his waist like a vice. "I knew you'd come back," she murmured into Link's shirt, and Zelda smiled.

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Link swung his leg over the saddle and dropped to the ground, giving Epona's neck a rub. She nickered and nudged at his pockets, looking for treats. He dug out a lump of sugar and let her nibble it up from his palm. "Go graze, beautiful girl," he said quietly, and watched her wander away.

The day was cold but bright and refreshing, and the wind made Hyrule Field's grasses rustle gently. Behind him, Zelda was murmuring to her white gelding as she tied his reins to the low branches of a tree. She'd grown very fond of him, but he wasn't quite as loyal as Epona. Zelda's hair was blowing in the breeze in tumbles the color of honey, and when she looked up at Link her azure eyes softened.

Gathering his courage, Link sat down with his back against the gnarled trunk of the tree. As Zelda joined him, he brought his hand to the pouch at his belt and pulled the crown from it.

Her eyes widened when she saw it, and she reached to touch it, running her fingers over the ruby embedded in the center. "This crown contains the memories of what happened to her—to _you_," Link said. "Everything from the first time you and I truly met to the day we killed Ganondorf." He took a deep breath. "If you put it on, you'll remember all of it."

Zelda had her eyebrows drawn up that way she always did when she was thinking hard. He could see the uncertainty on her face. "I…" she began, but ended with a long exhalation and an incredulous shake of her head.

"They're your memories," Link said gently, bringing up an arm to rest around her shoulders. "They made her who she was, and they'll do the same for you. But they do come at a price, Zelda. Take some time to think about this before you decide."

"It's part of the giants' prophecy," she pointed out. "_Join together the one halved by time. _That's me. It has to be."

"_Damn _the prophecy," he said forcefully. "Damn the giants. This is your life, not theirs. If we find that this is a vital step in defeating Majora, then that's that. But if it's not necessary…I don't want to see you live to regret this."

Zelda nodded. "I see your point. And…thank you. I'll think about it." Her hands tightened around the crown.

"Just know that whatever you decide, I'll always…" Link paused. The words were right there, wedged in his throat, but he couldn't get them past his lips. Not now. Not yet. "I'll support you," he finished.

Zelda smiled, blue eyes patient and understanding. She knew, but she didn't pressure him. She was giving him time. "I know," she said softly. "You always do."

Link leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips, pressing his fingers against the smooth skin at the nape of her neck. He thought of a different kiss, when he'd been drowning in fever and pain and she'd pulled him back to the surface. Zelda's hands came up to tangle in his hair, and by the time they broke loose they were both breathless and grinning.

It wasn't until the sun was sinking below the horizon that they mounted their horses and rode for home. When they walked into the castle together, stars twinkling above, their hands were touching.

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	29. and when you're bad, you just run

**notes 1: **omg, I'm sorry. writer's block again. I _am _trying, I promise.

**notes 2: **by the way, whenever I mention the Master Sword responding to Link's touch—that's Fi. I like to think she's always watching over him, even though he doesn't know she's there ಥ‿ಥ especially since Navi isn't around to watch over their boy anymore.

**disclaimer: **Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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_The horse shifted beneath her, tossing his mane restlessly. Zelda squinted through the falling cinders to watch as the enemy army emerged from the haze. The sky above her was the color of blood. Soon enough, the ground would be red too._

_ She could hear the nervous breathing of her army, spread out behind her. Zelda feared for them, and for herself. _

_ Smoke was rising from Death Mountain, and she could see the glimmer of lava running down its sides. The enemy was getting closer. Zelda watched as a figure appeared at the head of the army. Her armor was silver, her skin brown. A long dark braid swung behind her as she walked forward. Her eyes gleamed dangerously, full of malice. _

_When her gaze fell upon Zelda, her lips pulled back into a feral smile._

Zelda woke all at once, fear lodged in her throat. Her heart was hammering. Something felt wrong, like a sickness in the air. She pulled in a breath and shoved the blankets off her legs, scrambling out of bed and crossing to the door.

Just as her hand closed around the doorknob, the ground gave a great jerk under her feet. Zelda stumbled, barely managing to catch herself on the wall. The earth was heaving underneath her like a bucking horse. There was a low, menacing rumbling, and she could hear fearful voices as the palace awoke. The furniture creaked and groaned, and the jewelry and makeup on her vanity went tumbling to the floor. It reminded Zelda too much of the day her father had died, and she tasted bile at the back of her throat.

The door flung open and Impa rushed inside, grabbing her by the arms. "It's just an earthquake," she said loudly over the rumbling. "It will pass."

Surely enough, the shaking eased into trembling, the trembling into stillness. Zelda and Impa clung together until they were sure it was over. The bedraggled nobles whose quarters were nearby were spilling out into the hall, chattering nervously. Zelda pulled out of Impa's arms and went outside, curling her hands into fists at her sides to hide their shaking.

"Gather some other guards and sweep the castle," she ordered the two guards standing nearby. "Check for damages. If anyone is injured, see that they are brought to the infirmary. Report back to me when you're done." They nodded and set off, while Zelda turned to the nobles, who stared at her like wide-eyed sheep.

"All is well, my lords and ladies," she told them gently. "It was only a small quake." That was the same thing her father had said, on the day Majora's Mask had attacked Hyrule Castle and he'd been crushed in the debris. But there was no reason to tell the nobles that.

As they peeled off back to their bedrooms, she looked back at Impa. "This may be paranoid, but I want you to send out your scouts. Make sure the city is secure. I want to be sure this was really just an earthquake, not Majora's work."

Impa headed for the stairs, while Zelda slipped back inside her chambers and drew back the curtains. It was still dark, but the moon was low in the sky. Morning wasn't far away, and she wasn't going to get any more sleep at this point. Even though the earthquake was over, fear was lingering under her skin. She felt very cold.

Zelda thought of the woman in her dream and her sharp, vicious eyes, realization suddenly dawning on her. She'd been having prophetic dreams for as far back as she could remember. Her dream and the earthquake were connected.

She was still shaking as she splashed her face with water and dressed in the dark, wishing for the deft, reassuring hands of her handmaidens, but they wouldn't arrive for several more hours. The halls were empty when Zelda left her chambers, save for the guard posted at her door. He trailed behind her quietly as they walked, the only sound the clicking of their shoes on the floor and the crackling of the torches lining the walls.

Link was outside the door to his room when she approached, crouched down before a sobbing child with a mess of ginger hair. Link had a hand on the girl's shoulder and was speaking to her soothingly.

"What's going on?" Zelda asked as he stood up to face her.

"The earthquake scared her," Link said sheepishly, glancing down as the girl locked her arms around his leg with a vice-like grip.

Trying not to laugh, Zelda knelt down and pried the girl from Link's leg gently. "What's your name, little one?"

"Elise," she sniffled.

Frowning, Zelda pushed back her orange curls to reveal a familiar face. "Oh. Elise, this man is going to take you back to your mother, all right?" Getting to her feet, Zelda addressed the guard. "Find Lady Valerie, please. She must be worried sick about her daughter. I will be safe enough here."

As the guard took the little girl by the hand and led her away, Zelda wrapped her arms around herself and looked up at Link. His hair was tousled with sleep, and the torchlight glinted off the many scars marring his bare chest and arms. Something in her gaze made him frown. Wordlessly, he put a hand on Zelda's back and propelled her gently into his quarters.

Link's room was small and simple, furnished only by a bed and a dresser. The Master Sword leaned against the bed, where he always kept it as he slept. He'd chosen this room years ago for the wide window overlooking Castle Town and the field beyond it. Zelda remembered her father's annoyance when she'd told him she was reserving a chamber for the little boy from the forest.

_My father_, she thought. She was remembering him everywhere tonight—dying in the earthquake, lying for the nobles' sake, grimacing at her naivety. He'd looked down on Zelda for her whole life, but still she hoped the Goddesses had granted him peace, wherever he was.

She sank down into the window seat and leaned her back against the wall, drawing her legs up to her chest as Link went to the dresser and pulled on a shirt. When he was done, he sat down opposite her and looked out through the glass. Zelda could see dark circles under his eyes, and she pressed her lips together, wondering if the nightmares had kept him awake as they so often did. There was a moment of silence as they watched the first bit of light appear in the eastern sky, young and blushing like a maiden girl.

"There's a chill in the air," Link observed, voice low.

"Yes," Zelda agreed softly. "I had a dream."

He listened in silence, his blue eyes trained on her face the whole time. When she was done, he pulled in a long breath and let it out in a rush. "The woman you saw is Majora," Link said grimly.

She nodded. "I thought as much. This dream paralleled the one I had five months ago, just before you arrived here. But Majora wasn't there back then." Her eyes widened as part of the dream came back to her. "Death Mountain…it was erupting."

Link swore under his breath and reached for his boots, tugging them on his feet. "When Volvagia was living in the volcano, there were always tremors before each eruption. We have to go to Death Mountain today."

Zelda pressed her lips together. "I have matters of state to handle," she admitted. "I can't go, I'm sorry."

A funny crooked grin quirked up Link's lips, and he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "Don't apologize for ruling your kingdom," he said as he stood and buckled his sword belt onto his back, then fixed his shield there as well.

Zelda felt her face flush with heat and smiled. She would've thought that being a queen put her above blushing, but she was still sixteen. "Be careful," she called after Link as he swung the door open. He gave her a wave and strode out the door.

Zelda stayed for a few minutes longer, gazing out the window. The sun was rising, and it warmed her back, chasing away the chill of the night.

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By the time they reached the summit, Link was drenched in sweat. It seemed to get hotter and hotter with each step, and he almost wished for the red tunic that had protected him through the Fire Temple. Next to him, though, Darunia was barely even panting.

"Not much use in going up any further," the big Goron rumbled. "The earthquake made us suspicious, and now I can feel the heat from here. Death Mountain will erupt very soon."

Link didn't doubt Darunia's judgement, but he had to see for himself. Careful of where he placed his feet, he climbed up as far as he dared, until he could lean out over the craggy rocks. Sure enough, the lava blazed red-hot on the walls of the cavern, dangerously close to the top. Even from here the heat seared Link's face, and it was hard to breathe.

He shoved himself off the rock and clambered down back to where Darunia was waiting, where the footing was more even. "It's bad," Link admitted. "I have to get back to the queen as soon as I can."

On their way down, they had to stop to rest in a cave on the mountainside. Link coughed, trying to clear the ash out of his lungs, and took a gulp from his water skin. "What can your people do to contain the eruption?" he asked Darunia.

"Start digging trenches," he grunted. "We'll do our best to keep the lava from the going too far. In the meantime, I'll see that my city is ready to evacuate if need be. Kakariko too." He clapped Link on the shoulder, nearly knocking him over. "Do not worry, Brother. The Goron have lived in the volcano's shadow for centuries. We know how to combat it."

"I'm sure Zelda will help," Link assured. "I'll see if she can send troops to—"

He was cut off when the dirt behind him exploded and Darunia gave a shout of alarm. Link drew the Master Sword and whirled around, using the momentum to power his swing. The blade met thick, unyielding flesh. Link looked up, the fear rising in his throat the way it always did, to meet the cold black eyes of a Dead Hand.

It had been a long, long time since the last time he'd fought one of these things, but he still remembered the paralyzing fear and the chill of its bite. Teeth bared, it lunged towards him, but Link threw himself out of the way and yanked his shield on his arm. Fire blazed somewhere behind him, casting light that danced wildly on the walls of the cave—that would be Darunia, but he didn't have time to turn around. He could see many long arms rising from the earth, thin pale things with immense strength. The Dead Hand sank into the ground and was gone.

The hands shot towards Link at an impossible speed, reaching out with black fingernails. He sliced through one, severing the hand from the wrist, then another and another, but each one he felled was replaced. He could hear Darunia yelling and caught a glimpse of him, entangled in grey hands, his voice drowned out by the roar in Link's head. A hand latched around Link's leg, corpse-cold; another seized his shield and wrenched it from his arm, sending it crashing to the ground. Then they were everywhere: wrapped around his middle, restraining his limbs, grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking his head back.

That was when the Dead Hand burst from underground right before his eyes and slid forward, its eyes blank and unfeeling. Its acrid breath washed over him in waves, and he struggled in the vice-like grip of the hands holding him still.

And then the years of experience flickered away and Link was ten again—not a man, not a hero, but a terrified boy struggling through the dark dank horrors that lurked at the bottom of the well. Panic shot through him like wildfire as the Dead Hand's teeth widened, preparing to tear into Link's flesh. _Navi, _he thought frantically. _Navi, I need __**Navi**__, what would she do, what would she say—_

The Triforce of Courage gleamed brilliant golden light as he wrenched his sword hand free with all the strength he had, hacking through the hand that held his arm back as the Master Sword hummed with life. The Dead Hand was shooting forward, teeth aimed for Link's bare throat. In one powerful upward swing he drove his sword through its neck, feeling the sharp steel cut through skin and sinew and bone until the monster's head thudded to the ground, severed from its body. Warm blood spattered Link's face as the body fell, the hands holding him releasing their grip.

The Master Sword clanged to the ground. He staggered away, sucking in desperate gasps of air and stumbling over the hands lying on the ground until he was at the opening of the cavern, under the blue blue sky. Link fell to his knees and vomited up the contents of his stomach. Then he swiped at the sticky blood on his face, scrubbing the skin harshly with his gloves. It wouldn't come off. It wouldn't come off. He choked down something that felt half like a laugh and half like a sob.

"Easy, Brother," came Darunia's gruff voice, and then there was a big hand on his back, surprisingly gentle. "Breathe, lad. Breathe."

Link obeyed. In, out, in, out. He stared at the sky, watching an eagle circle far above them until his hammering heart slowed to a quieter pace. He tried to swallow around the thick, tight feeling in his throat. Darunia pressed a skin of water into his hands, and Link rinsed, spat, and drank deep. He handed the skin back, trying not to look at the smear of blood his hands left behind.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, voice dull. "I…" He shook his head, pressing his lips together.

"Sorry for what? You saved my life by killing that thing," Darunia said. "Those hands had me tied down, strong as I am. I don't know how you broke free, but it was incredible."

_Navi would tell me it was because I'm brave, _Link thought, but he didn't feel brave, and Navi wasn't here. He let his eyes fall shut for a moment longer than the standard blink, then opened them and got to his feet. He didn't want to turn around, but he did. The Dead Hand's headless corpse was sprawled over the rock, its neck still leaking the last bit of blood. The head's eyes were open and staring, that jaw and those terrible teeth gaping wide. The arms were piled up around the body. Link stepped past all of it to get his shield and fasten it to his back, then pick up the Master Sword. The hilt warmed at his touch, a soft greeting. He exhaled and slid it into the scabbard, then turned his back on the carnage.

"Let's go," he said quietly as he walked back out of the cave and past Darunia, halting when he realized the Sage wasn't following.

"Brother," Darunia said when their eyes met, "You don't have to talk to me, but talk to someone, yeah?"

Link nodded, and turned to go back down the mountain.

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Zelda had just returned to her study after sitting through a criminal's trial when he returned. Link looked worn, she saw that immediately, and haggard. She dismissed her people with a wave of her hand; the scribes and nobles went easily, whereas Impa cast a backwards glance before shutting the door.

When Zelda stood up from her desk and opened her arms, Link went into them willingly. He smelled surprisingly clean, like the river. He pressed his lips to her hair, his arms going tight around her.

"Death Mountain will erupt any day now," he mumbled into her shoulder.

Zelda shut her eyes briefly, then opened them again. She wasn't surprised. "I see." When he didn't say anything else, she rubbed his back in slow, gentle circles. "Is there something else wrong?"

Link let out a long, ragged breath. "Zelda, I am so tired of being afraid."

She brought a hand up to rest against his chest, feeling his heart beating strong and relentless, and didn't let him go. "I know," Zelda whispered. "I know."

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	30. blitzkrieg

**notes 1: ***shows up almost 2 months late with starbucks* hi. Yes, I'm still alive. I promise I'll finish this.

**notes 2: **this chapter is the beginning of the end. That sounds ominous, I know, but I'm excited to write the climax. It's been almost a full year since I began writing this story! Thank you, all of you, for sticking with me.

**disclaimer: **I don't own Zelda.

* * *

><p>.<p>

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"One," Nabooru said, watching them intently with her arms crossed against her chest. Zelda widened her stance and raised her chin to fix her eyes on Ruto, challenging her silently. The other princess smirked back at her in defiance. They were behind the castle, away from the prying eyes of nobles and servants alike.

"Two."

Zelda drew in a long breath and traveled deep inside herself, to the well of magic that lived inside her, and collected her power. She could guess that Ruto, standing opposite her, was doing the same.

"Three!"

Ruto's arm shot out, and water burst up from the moat, roaring towards Zelda. A translucent wall of pink magic sprang up in front of her, and the water crashed against it, keeping all but a few drops from reaching her. Zelda lifted the wall of magic up and sent it hurtling towards Ruto. The Zora darted out of the way, pulling water from the moat as she went and flinging it at Zelda. In real combat, Zelda knew, she'd freeze the water into dangerous spikes of ice, but they didn't _actually _want to kill one another today.

She sidestepped the attack and focused her magic on her palm, feeling it grow warm as pink light gathered in an orb. She drew her arm back and threw it at Ruto, who knocked it out of the way with a splash. The rushing of water filled the air as Ruto drew half the moat out of the canal and pooled it in front of her, building up more and more until a wave twice Zelda's height was hurtling towards her.

"Nayru's underpants," Zelda muttered exasperatedly under her breath as she thought quickly. Ruto would be expecting her to either get toppled over or to go around the wave—she wouldn't anticipate Zelda going _through _it. She took off running—not away from the wave, but towards it. As her feet pounded against the ground, she gathered her magic in a bubble surrounding her body, shielding her. She crashed through the water and leapt, spearing her power towards Ruto. Zelda tackled the other princess to the ground and pinned her there with a blade of deadly pink light at her throat.

"Well," Ruto coughed indignantly. "Ow. I supposed you've won, haven't you?"

"I suppose I have," Zelda smiled.

"And I suppose you can get off of me now, and put that knife away."

Zelda laughed and let the light fade from her palm as she climbed off of Ruto, offering her a hand. The Zora took it and let Zelda pull her to her feet.

"Not bad at all," Nabooru commented as she joined them. "You've both learned very quickly."

"We had to, with impending doom crashing down upon us and all that," Ruto remarked glumly.

"I'm not sure I have much else to teach you," Nabooru continued. "Maybe I should spar one of you next time, eh?"

Zelda brushed the grass from her breeches and looked around at the soaked ground under her feet. "You two go ahead. I have meetings I must attend. And Ruto," she said with a grin, "Do you think you could put my castle's moat back where it belongs, please? It's not a very effective defense when it's only five feet deep."

Ruto grumbled and did as she was told.

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Link flung the dirt over his shoulder and dug his shovel into the earth once again, pausing to swipe the sweat off his forehead with his arm. The air felt unnaturally hot here, reminding him of the crater he'd once climbed into to reach the Fire Temple. He took a swig from his water flask and leaned against the shovel, watching the other workers.

Practically every able-bodied adult from both Goron City and Kakariko Village had come out to dig the network of trenches that would limit the damage of the eruption. The Gorons had planned out the paths and hammered the earth down with their powerful fists; the Hylians followed with shovels to deepen the trenches. It was hard, grimy work, and they needed every pair of hands they could get.

Suddenly Link froze, his hand tightening around the shovel as something caught his eye. There were several plumes of black smoke on the horizon—not coming from the volcano, but rising above the treeline to the south. "No," he murmured, dropping the shovel and digging through the pouch hanging from his belt. His hand closed around the Ocarina of Time, and he raised it to his lips. Link avoided using it unless the need was truly great, but the Kokiri could be in danger. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw the workers look up in bewilderment as the notes of the Minuet of Forest rang out on the mountainside. One man dropped his shovel in shock just as Link's vision went white.

When he could see again, he stood before the crumbled stairs leading up to the Forest Temple. There was no time to waste. He turned on his heel and broke into a run, his eyes fixing on the smoke rising into the sky not far from here. The maze, for the first time in Link's life, was empty of any threat. Instead of reassuring him, that worried him even more.

The monsters made enough noise to be heard from a quarter mile away, and the wind bore the smell of smoke. When he emerged from the maze he turned west, following the crashing sounds of many creatures moving at once. He'd been this way before, the first time he stumbled upon the cave several months ago.

Now, Link could see flashes of color and movement through the dense cluster of trees. He slowed his pace to a walk, making his footsteps careful and quiet as he crept from tree to tree to get closer. When he was near enough to spot the opening of the cave, he sucked in his breath at what he saw. Monsters were pouring out by the dozens, all species and sizes, all armored and carrying weapons. They were on the move. But to where?

Link took hold of a low branch on the tree next to him and pulled himself up, then searched for another handhold. He climbed quickly and silently, as only a child of the forest could do, until he could raise his head above the treetops and look out across the vast expanse of green. For a moment it felt peaceful, with the wind blowing through his hair and carrying the scents of earth and life.

But then Link looked down at the line of monsters weaving its way through the forest and felt his chest tighten with dread. In the distance, he could see the orange blaze of fire—they were burning the trees to make their passage easier. There had to be hundreds, perhaps thousands, and more were still coming out of the cave. More than that, their deliberate and orderly march disturbed him—monsters were not supposed to behave that way. Link wondered how many of them had been people, once. The thought made him sick.

He had thirty arrows in his quiver, and this was the perfect vantage point. How many lives could he save later by taking a few dozen now? Link shoved the thought away. There was no time for that, and the risk of detection was too great. He clambered down until he reached a lower branch, then dropped and hit the ground running.

Link's mind was racing faster than his legs as he ran. He didn't know if Majora would threaten the Kokiri, but he couldn't ignore the possibility. Other than Saria and her Sage powers, they were defenseless; he didn't like to think of what would happen if the monsters reached the village. Then there was the rest of Hyrule to think about—the villages scattered about Hyrule Field had few means of protection. He and Impa had been working hard to train the royal army, and he knew Zelda was doing everything she could to prepare for a siege. Ruto, Nabooru, and Darunia were arming their people for war as well. But Link wasn't sure that it would be enough.

He emerged from the hollowed out tree trunk that led out of the Lost Woods and edged towards the cliff that overlooked Kokiri Village, keeping low to avoid being spotted. His eyes raked through the village. Mido was planted in front of his house with his arms crossed against his chest, yelling at one of the triplets. A girl skipped stones across the surface of the pond while chatting with Fado. Two boys were play-fighting in the practice ring, using sticks as swords. Link saw no monsters, and thanked Farore that he was here on time.

He jogged down the path to reach Mido, who stared at him, openmouthed. "Where's Saria?" Link asked breathlessly.

Mido screwed up his face and shook his head, backing away. "I'm not telling you anything, Fairyless!"

Link was surprised that the word still hurt him, even now, but it didn't matter. Navi was six years gone, and he was still surviving. "There's no time for this, Mido," he snapped, turning around to point at the columns of smoke rising from where the monsters were burning the trees. "Do you see that? There's danger in the forest, and you aren't safe. Gather everyone here, as fast as you can. We have to go."

Mido paled, his eyes darting to the smoke, then to Link. "Go?" he repeated as if the word were in a foreign language. "Go where?"

"You'll see. I got you out of the Dark World, didn't I? I'll get you out of this. Just do as I asked!"

Link darted off without waiting to see if Mido obeyed and climbed the ladder to Saria's house. When he ducked under the door frame, she was sitting at her table slicing an apple. "Saria, we have to go. Majora's army is marching, and the village may be in danger. We have to get the Kokiri to the Forest Temple."

Saria dropped her knife and stood, her fairy's wings fluttering nervously. "The Forest Temple? Why there?"

"It's in the opposite direction of where they're heading, and it's safe," Link explained as she followed him out of the house. "We'd never make it to Hyrule Castle without being spotted. Even if they find you, they won't be able to climb up to the temple. We have to be fast."

He looked over to see the children congregating around Mido's house, chattering confusedly. Saria took a step towards them, but Link grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me. I need you to lead them. Mido's just a child; he doesn't know what to do. Keep them together. Protect them."

Saria cast a glance towards the Kokiri, then looked up at him, her face frightened. Above her head, her fairy was bouncing up and down, pulsing in bursts of erratic green light. "I don't know if I can."

Link's ears picked up the sound of many feet tramping through the undergrowth, and the wind carried the scent of monster flesh. His hands tightened around her shoulders. "You can," he promised. "You're the Sage of the Forest. You survived the Dark World. I'll get you to the temple, but you're the only one who can hold them together after that. Now we must go."

Saria's eyes hardened, and she nodded. Together, they gathered up the stragglers and went up the path, with Saria at the head and Link following at the rear. They had barely entered the Lost Woods when he saw the first Moblin emerge at the entrance to the village. Link's bow was out in a flash; his arrow took the creature in between the eyes, and it fell. "Go!" he hissed at the children who had stopped to gape at him.

The Lost Woods was a place that held many fond memories for Link, of running through the trees and playing music with Saria before he had ever held a sword. It was full of sunlight and the singing of birds; Ganondorf's rise hadn't touched it, and neither had his fall. It was not so welcoming now. In the distance, he caught glimpses of orange flames licking at the trees. The guttural languages of monsters rang out as they searched for the Kokiri. Link kept his bow tight in his hand.

The clanking of armored footsteps gave the Iron Knuckle away before it reached them. Link shoved the children out of the way and ducked as it swung its giant axe in a blow that would have decapitated him, drawing the Master Sword. He heard some of the Kokiri scream. "Keep going!" he shouted as the Triforce began to glow golden on his hand.

The axe was crashing down towards him again; Link threw himself to the side and jabbed at the gap between the Iron Knuckle's breastplate and gauntlets. His blade went clean through the monster's arm, making it roar in pain and rage. It made a wild downward swing that Link sidestepped quickly. Then it strained, one-handed, to pull its axe from the earth, giving him the opening he needed. He lunged forward to plunge the Master Sword into the monster's neck. By the time he pulled the blade out, the Iron Knuckle was dead.

When he caught up to the Kokiri, they were nearing the maze. Link fell in behind them, counting each blonde head to make sure they were all present. He could tell from the footsteps behind them that the enemy was closing in. Saria led them through the maze deftly and up the narrow path, until the stood on the pedestal where Link had just landed an hour ago.

"Saria, get them up there, then seal the entrance," he ordered.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine," Link said, grinning at her and holding up the Ocarina of Time. "If you need me, you know what song to play. Now go!"

Saria pressed her lips together, then gave him a brave smile and turned to the collapsed steps leading up to the temple. Her fairy glowed a vibrant green as she raised her arms, palms facing the sky. The branches of the gnarled tree that stood by the entrance began to grow, stretching downwards until they created a new set of stairs. Saria pushed the Kokiri towards them one by one, and they began to climb.

Link turned away and nocked an arrow on his bowstring, observing his odds with a well-practiced eye. There were five of them—two Moblins, a Lizalfos, a Stalfos, and a Poe floating above them—and he had the high ground; that was good enough. He fixed his aim on his first target as it came up the path. The arrow hit the Lizalfos in the neck, and it went down. Link's second arrow brought down one of the Moblins easily, like fish in a barrel. The third arrow was meant for the Poe, but it knocked it away with a flash of purple magic.

Hazarding a glance behind him, he saw Saria pulling the last Kokiri up onto the ledge. Then the branches and roots of the tree grew to cover the entrance, entwining together to make a thick shield until Link could barely see the stone exterior of the Temple.

He whipped back around. By now, the monsters were too close for arrows. He pulled out a bomb and ignited it quickly, then threw it down the path. The high-pitched scream of the Stalfos echoed in Link's ears as he turned his head away just before the bomb exploded; the heat of it seared his face. The Stalfos and the Moblin were both gone, but he could see a faint purple glow just in front of him. Link lashed out with the Master Sword, and the Poe dissipated into the air, leaving only the small flame that was its soul.

Breathing hard, he headed down the path, trying not to look at the corpses he'd created. Behind him, Saria's vines burst from the ground and rose to build a wall that blocked the entrance to the Forest Temple entirely. Link surveyed the area, seeing no more monsters, and slid his sword back into the scabbard. He glanced back in the direction of the Temple and sent a prayer up to the Goddesses for the Kokiri's protection. He'd done all he could for them.

Now, the rest of Hyrule needed him. Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time, and played the Prelude of Light.

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	31. crescendo

**notes 1: **This is kind of a slow chapter. I wanted things to be good before shit GOES DOWN. Also, it's been ages since I wrote a Zelda-centric chapter, and I want my girl to get the attention she deserves.

**notes 2: **Stop Pitting Zelda And Malon Against One Another 2k15

**disclaimer: **Zelda is not mine.

* * *

><p>.<p>

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Zelda's fingers dragged trails through the moisture that had gathered on the glass, tracing absentminded shapes as she gazed out her bedroom window. If she looked beyond the walls of Castle Town, she could see the fires gleaming through the light snow that fell over Hyrule. Majora's forces had spent the day razing the countryside, and now they were camped for the night in the middle of the field. She watched their lights flickering in the distance, mocking her.

"Come sit by the fire, my queen," Impa said from where she sat on the sofa behind Zelda, her voice not unkind.

Zelda stayed where she was, leaning forward to press her forehead against the cool glass, hoping it would soothe the headache forming there. Link's warning had bought her invaluable time to inform her allies, prepare her military, and evacuate as many villages as she could. Even so, there were other settlements that were too far to the east, too close to Kokiri Forest. Zelda had held back her troops, knowing that they could not stand against the bulk of Majora's army without preparation. Her scouts had confirmed that the monster army raided each and every village, killing the people who fought back and turning the rest to join their ranks.

"I should have saved them," she whispered. "I'm their queen. They expect me to defend them. Instead I sat here on my pretty throne, safe inside my castle, while their houses burned and they were butchered, or worse." Zelda shuddered and turned to look at Impa, her hands fisting in her dress.

Impa stared back for a long time before answering. "This is what you must do to keep your crown," she said evenly. "Not every decision is simple—in fact, most of them will be the opposite. You have to do what must be done for the good of Hyrule."

Zelda's mouth twisted to the side. "You sound like my father."

Impa gave a small shrug. "He wasn't good to you, I know, but he did what he thought was best for his country. I learned much from him. If you had deployed soldiers, I doubt the monsters would have even let them reach the towns. In any case, the only thing it would have achieved is more death. You made the right choice. Now all you can do is make their deaths worth it in the battle tomorrow."

"I know all that," Zelda murmured. "Still, it doesn't make this any easier. After all, part of the army I'm fighting tomorrow is made up of my former people." She exhaled slowly and took another glance out the window, then went to the fireplace, holding out her hands to chase the chill out of them. Her eyes flickered to her dresser, where the crown that Link had brought back in time rested.

"Much has happened in these past few months, hasn't it?" Impa mused. The firelight glimmered in her eyes, turning them a lighter shade of red—softer, like the red roses that grew in the castle gardens in the spring. "Tragedy has made you very strong, my queen."

"Only because that's how you taught me to be," Zelda said, her throat going tight. "Impa, whatever happens tomorrow…thank you. For teaching me, protecting me, raising me…and for loving me. For that most of all."

Impa chuckled, and to Zelda's shock, her long ears had turned a light shade of red. "You've always had a way with words."

Zelda sat down next to her, lips trembling. "I never had a mother, and I had more of a king than I did a father. But I have you. I like to think that's better than anything else."

"I like to think so too," Impa said, and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Now get to sleep. You need your rest."

Zelda smiled. From Impa, those words spoke volumes.

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She gave up on sleep after two hours of tossing and turning. There were too many thoughts in her head, like hundreds of ants crawling all over their anthills. Not bothering to dress, Zelda pulled on a pair of slippers and left her room. The guard at her door began to follow her, but she waved him off. "No need. I only mean to wander the palace for a while."

He frowned. "Your Majesty, my orders are to stay with you until the next shift arrives to relieve me."

"I will be fine, sir. And I will make sure that you are not punished."  
>"But, my queen, with the enemy camped on our doorstep…the risk is too great."<p>

Zelda sighed and scrubbed at her eyes. "You're right. Forgive me. I will be glad to have you accompany me." That wasn't strictly true—what she wanted was to be alone, to get some fresh air and let her mind clear, but he was just a guard doing his job.

The castle was filled with the eerie quiet that came with the coming battle. Normally, this place was never truly silent—someone was always awake, whether it was the grooms tending to their horses until late in the night or the cooks waking up before dawn to bake the breakfast bread. Tonight it felt as if everyone—the nobles, the soldiers, the servants, all of them—held their breath in anticipation. Even the guards patrolling the halls didn't chatter amongst themselves as they usually did. It made Zelda nervous.

Before she knew it, she was crossing the yard to get to the stables. Her guard positioned himself in front of the entrance after they slipped inside. The moonlight slanting through the roof beams guided Zelda's steps, as well as a lantern hanging from a hook on the wall. The stableboy who was supposed to be tending to the horses was curled up on a pile of hay in a corner, fast asleep. He looked no older than ten. As Zelda watched, he muttered and rolled over, a smile on his face. She pulled a spare horse blanket off the stall near her and draped it over him, wishing him happy dreams.

She wandered down the aisle of stalls until she reached the white gelding Malon had given her, what seemed so long ago. He was dozing, his long neck drooping and his eyelids twitching. His head came up when Zelda approached, and she held out her hands as he plodded forward to greet her. She murmured nonsense endearments as she leaned against his stall and stroked his silky mane.

"I'm glad you've grown so fond of him," said a voice behind her, and Zelda flinched in surprise and spun around. Her guard dashed around the corner, drawing his sword. But when Zelda looked, it was only Malon, perched at the edge of the hay loft a few feet above her.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, holding up her hands. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Zelda laughed, mostly in relief. "It's all right," she told her guard, and went to the ladder that led up to the hay loft to join Malon. She knew that Lon Lon Ranch had been evacuated, but she hadn't expected to see Malon here. Then again, it shouldn't have been surprising; the farm girl was always at her most comfortable when she was surrounded by animals.

"Didn't Link help set you up with a room?" Zelda asked as she sat down, dangling her legs off the edge. Most of the people who had fled from the monsters were at the camp she'd established just outside the castle walls, or staying at inns in town. She'd given Malon and her family a room in the palace, considering how important their farm's produce had always been to Castle Town.

"He did. My dad and Ingo are there now. I like it better here, though." Malon sighed and looked down at her skirt, picking at a few loose threads. "How terrible this is. I can't stop thinking of all the people who couldn't get out of their villages on time. And we…we had to leave our animals behind."

"I'm sorry," Zelda said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "With so many people to take care of, we don't have the room."

"I understand," Malon reassured, squeezing her hand. "I shouldn't complain. Your soldiers saved our lives, and many more. I can't imagine what it's like for you, being queen at a time like this."

Zelda smiled. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed Malon's company. She was funny and kind, and she treated Zelda like a girl her age, not a queen. During the first few months of their friendship, when they were children playing games in the field with Link, Malon had known Zelda as Carmine, a bookkeeper's daughter from the city. It had been easier that way, but Malon had only been more delighted when she learned the truth.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Zelda nodded, expecting a question about the horses, or the war, or the people camped outside the castle, or—

"Do you think you'll marry Link?"

She blinked, and suddenly felt very cold. "What?"

Malon sighed exasperatedly. "I swear, you two are hopeless when it comes to each other. I mean, you love him, don't you?"

"I…" Zelda trailed off, pressing her lips together for a moment. It wasn't that she didn't know the answer to the question—in a way, she felt she'd known since the first time she laid eyes on him in that garden. It just felt strange to admit it to Malon before she'd even told Link himself. "Yes. I do."

Malon smiled knowingly. "When we were younger, I used to think Link was my prince, riding in to save me from danger. I was so silly. He's only ever loved you, Zelda. So that's why I want to know. Will you marry him?"

She had never even entertained the prospect, and now that she did, she immediately saw that it was impossible. Zelda's court would never accept a commoner as their king; even if they did, Link was no politician, and she needed a husband who knew how to govern. More than that, she knew he would be unhappy staying in the palace that held so many bad memories, restrained from the wild parts of Hyrule that he loved so dearly and spending all his days doing paperwork and resolving the day-to-day issues that came to a monarch's attention.

"I can't do that," Zelda said quietly, rather than explaining it all.

Malon frowned. "Why not? You're the queen. You could bend the rules a little."

"That's not all there is to being a queen," Zelda said, standing abruptly and backing down the ladder. "Thank you. You made me realize something important."

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She wasn't sure what she was expecting when she knocked on Link's door; at this hour, he ought to be asleep. But his quiet voice called out, "Come in," all the same.

Zelda sent her guard away for good, telling him that she would be safe with Link. When she walked inside, Link was perched on the window seat, running a whetstone down the blade of the Master Sword. The torchlight caught in his hair as it spilled over his eyes, reminding Zelda of honey.

Without a word, she sank down next to him, listening to the metallic ringing as he sharpened his sword. After a moment, Zelda spoke. "I'm scared."

The ringing stopped. Link set the whetstone down and slid the Master Sword into its scabbard, though he kept the sword in his hands. "Me, too," he said softly. "But so is everyone else. You'd be crazy not to be scared."

Zelda nodded, leaning back against the wall and stretching out her legs. "After all this is over, what will you do?" she asked.

Link furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, chewing his lip. Zelda watched his face carefully. "Honestly?" he said finally. "I…don't know. We've been so busy that I've barely thought about it."

She nodded again and looked out the window, gazing at the campfires in the distance. Doubt rushed through her suddenly, and dread. There were so many monsters out there, and their leader was a fallen goddess of immeasurable power. What if they failed?

She looked back at Link, who met her gaze evenly. Her eyes ran over his soft, boyish mouth, his unruly blonde hair, his strong, scarred hands holding the Master Sword tight, his kind blue eyes that had seen too much. Zelda took a breath.

"If we lose tomorrow," she began, "or if something happens to one of us—"

Link shook his head. "Don't talk like that."

"Let me finish," Zelda said hoarsely. "I want you to know that I love you, Link. And…and I don't know what kind of future I can offer, if I can even offer _anything_, because we both know that Hyrule always comes first, but—" she broke off for a moment, to compose herself. "But I love you," she finished helplessly.

Link's grin was shockingly brilliant, like the sky on a sunny day—she hadn't seen him smile like that in so long, and had longed for it more than she cared to admit. "Zelda," he said, reaching up to touch her face. "Of course I love you, too. Always have."

Then, it was her turn to smile.

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	32. moonfall

**notes 1: **first of all, I'm sorry I've been gone so long. We're in the home stretch!

**notes 2: **forgive me for any unrealistic stuff that happens if this chapter. I'm not exactly an expert on medieval military tactics, and I have so much to do that I don't really want to spend time researching.

**disclaimer**: Zelda is not mine.

* * *

><p>.<p>

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Another tremor shook the earth, making the windows rattle ominously. Zelda grimaced as she eased the chainmail tunic over her head, disliking the weight that pressed down on her shoulders and constricted her movement. She was strong for a slim girl of sixteen, but not trained to bear a full suit of armor; still, she couldn't go into battle in a silk dress. Over the chainmail, she pulled on a cuirass of tough boiled leather; the same material that made up her gauntlets and greaves.

She looked out the window warily, eyeing the black clouds rising from Death Mountain. The tremors were coming closer together now; the volcano could erupt at any moment. _Just my luck_, Zelda thought. It was the morning of the battle, and most of her Goron allies couldn't even join her to fight without letting the volcano consume both their city and Kakariko Village. She wondered if Majora had planned it all, somehow; it wouldn't come as a shock.

Her maidservants were preparing the infirmary for the injured soldiers sure to come, so Zelda was left to dress by herself. She was struggling to lace the right gauntlet with her left hand when Impa strode in without knocking, dressed in her Sheikah armor with a kunai sheathed at each hip. Zelda frowned at her. "What are you still doing here?"  
>Impa snorted as she took Zelda's wrist in her hands and began to lace the gauntlet for her. "Good morning to you, too," she remarked.<p>

"You know what I meant. You should be at the river with your troops."

"I'm about to leave. I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell you one last time that I don't like this idea of yours—not that I expect my opinion to change your mind."

Zelda groaned and reached for her greaves, yanking them on her feet. "Impa, we've talked about this."

"You're the queen," Impa reminded her for the thousandth time. "You've little field experience, and you're too important to be in the battle. Perhaps a spot with the archers on the city walls would be—"

"I will not have my army mark me as a coward," Zelda said sharply. "I can't expect them to die for me if I'm not willing to die for them. You trained me to protect myself; and besides, I'll be mounted and surrounded by the finest warriors Hyrule has to offer. Including Link."

"It's too much of a risk. Link and I agree on very little, but I'm sure he would be with me on this."

"Actually," Link drawled from the doorway, making them both look up, "I'm still not with you. She'll give the soldiers hope."

Zelda couldn't help but laugh when Impa rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "You be careful," she said to Zelda, and turned her glare onto Link. "And you. If there's one scratch on her by the time the battle is over, I swear—"

"There won't be," Link said, all traces of mockery vanished from his voice. "Good luck out there, Impa."

Impa looked him up and down, glanced back at Zelda, and nodded resolutely. "May the Goddesses watch over us all," she said softly, and was gone.

Zelda listened to her retreating footsteps, and looked over at Link. He wore the green tunic that Saria had made him, and with the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield on his back, he looked every inch a hero. Even if her people didn't remember the sacrifices he'd made for them, she was sure having him by her side would be good for morale.

She saw a tinge of red flush across his cheeks when he noticed her watching him. Zelda smiled at him, thinking of the previous night and of the tender words they'd shared, not to mention the kisses and the way she'd let her hands roam through his hair, over the corded muscles of his arms, against the knotted scars on his abdomen. They'd gone no further than touch alone, but still it was a memory she would hold close to her heart.

"One way or another, it'll all be over soon," she told him quietly as she slid two daggers into her belt and one into each boot. Her hands were trembling when she pulled half of her hair out of her face and tied it, letting the rest fall over her back in long golden tresses. That was absurd—the battle hadn't even started yet, but the anticipation alone had her shaking.

"We'll win, Zelda," Link murmured. "You have a strong army and a smart plan. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but we will win."

"Even so, casualties are inevitable," Zelda replied dully, getting to her feet. Another tremor made her stumble; Link caught her by the arm to keep her upright. "Today will create countless orphans and widows and shattered families." _Queens don't cry, _she reminded herself, pulling her cloak on. It was deep crimson, with the royal crest emblazoned on the back. Armor or not, she was still an icon to Hyrule. "And so many of Majora's forces are innocents. My own subjects."

"Then be there for them afterwards. To guide the survivors. To make it all right again." Link brushed a gentle hand over her cheek. "If anyone can do it, you can."

Zelda wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, resting her forehead on his shoulder. She could feel the woven rings of chainmail under his tunic. She thought of all the romance novels she'd read as a girl, how they spoke of fiery, overwhelming emotions; and of the noble girls who told her about the dizzying effects their suitors had on them. That wasn't what Zelda felt for Link. What she felt was the calm he brought to her—the trust, the steadiness, the way everything was _right_. "I love you," she whispered.

Link leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead in reply. It wasn't until the earth quaked beneath their feet once more that she pulled away from him and took hold of her bow.

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The cinders were settling into Zelda's hair as they waited. Normally she loved snow, but the stuff raining on them now was grey and flaky and came from a red-black sky. In the distance, she could see the lava already sliding down the side of Death Mountain, like red tears slipping down a craggy, ancient face.

It was her dream all over again, come to life.

She was positioned at the center of her army, with Link by her side. The archers and cannons were up on the walls of Castle Town, protected by the sharpened palisades encircling the wall. The twenty best knights of her guard were mounted around her; her safety was their primary responsibility. The rest of the mounted cavalry formed the front lines, followed by the few Gorons who could be spared from Death Mountain, and then the Hylian and Gerudo footsoldiers. Nabooru was back there, working in tandem with Zelda's guard-captain to lead the ground troops.

She looked past Lon Lon Ranch to the mouth of Zora's River, where Impa and Ruto hid in waiting with their Sheikah and Zora forces. As Zelda's quickest, most expert fighters, they were to cut off Majora's forces in a surprise attack that would trap the monsters between two halves of her army.

_See what I can do with a united Hyrule, Majora?_ Zelda thought, searching the murky air for a glimpse of the enemy. _Just try and beat us. _

As if on cue, the first figures became visible through the haze; the hulking shapes of hideous monsters who had once been people. She sent up a prayer to the Goddesses—redemption for them, and protection for her army, for the Gorons fighting the volcano, for herself and Link and Impa and everyone she loved. At the head of the enemy troops was a human figure, too far away for Zelda to see clearly, but she knew it could only be Majora.

She looked at Link. He reached out to twine his fingers with hers and give her hand a brief squeeze, then let her go. Zelda wheeled her horse around and nudged her heels against his sides, letting him take up a brisk walk. The ranks parted to let her through, and she felt her heart warm as they lifted their faces to look at her. She drew in a breath, gathering her wits and her courage.

"People of Hyrule, you have rallied here today to face a grievous threat to our great kingdom," she shouted. "This enemy comes to take your home, to take your lives and the lives of your friends, your families. They attack us merely for the selfish gain of more power! Will you let them succeed?"

Thousands of voices crashed back at her, "_No!_"

Zelda reached the end of the line and turned, urging her horse into a gallop. Their faces blurred as she flew by, ignoring the thick air and the cinders that brushed against her skin. "We stand here united—Hylians, Gorons, and Gerudo, together and stronger than ever! May you hold your heads high and your backs straight; may your minds be sharp and your weapons sharper!"

A resounding cheer rose up as she turned back to face the enemy. She could see Majora now; her silver armor glinted against the harsh red light of the smoggy sky. There was a smirk on her lips, and already, her eyes were victorious. Zelda surveyed the opposing army, her heart beating hard in her throat but her mind clear. There were many of them, monsters of every shape and size and species, but she saw no mounted troops. The winged enemies hovering above them would be trouble; she prayed her archers could take them down. They could do this. They had no other choice.

Zelda raised her bow in the air and yelled for the charge. As the war horns sounded and her soldiers loosed their battle cries, she met Link's blue blue eyes once last time, and nodded. Then she tightened her grip on her reins and sent her horse forward.

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As soon as he cut down one monster, the next one was upon him. Epona fought fiercely: Link didn't even have to command her to lash out with her powerful hooves to keep any foe from getting to close. It was hard to hear anything over the cacophony of metal clashing against metal and the screams of people and horses and monsters alike.

Link stayed close to Zelda, always keeping her in his peripheral vision. Though he'd killed so many monsters already that it was hopeless trying to count them, he hadn't spotted Majora in the throng since the armies had first clashed together. He'd hoped that if he found her and ended her, whatever vile spell forcing people to take shape as monsters would be reversed. But they were too surrounded by enemies to make any real advances.

He spared a glance for Zelda atop her white gelding, who was smiting enemies with blasts of deadly pink magic. Link didn't have time to look any closer when a Lizalfos neared him, armor and all. He held tight to Epona's mane as she reared up, slamming her hooves into the Lizalfos on the way down and trampling it underneath her. Link lashed out with the Master Sword to deal a blow to a second Lizalfos that was trying to sneak up behind him.

Suddenly a great crash split through the air, above the roar of battle, and all heads shot up to search for the sound's source. He thought of the Dark World and how Majora had come hurtling to the ground like a meteor when they seized her keep. Link looked past Hyrule's forces and Majora's forces, to the southeast, and a sudden dread struck him. There was smoke rising from past the forest's treeline.

"They're attacking the Kokiri!" he yelled to Zelda.

She followed his gaze to the forest, her face pale, then looked back at Link. "Go," she told him firmly.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"They need you more than I do," she said, and he knew she was right. He nodded, tearing his eyes away from her, and pulled the Ocarina of Time from his pocket.

"Wait!" Zelda cried out, and her magic flared up around them to create a shield that kept them safe while she leaned over and kissed him. Her lips tasted like the cinders that fell from the sky, but Link didn't care; he savored the feeling. It was quick and desperate and not nearly enough, but it was something. "Be careful," she whispered.

"You, too," Link murmured, and raised a hand to touch her face. "I love you."

Then he drew away from her and lifted the Ocarina to his lips.

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	33. when it rains, it pours

**notes 1: **Thank you guys so much for 100 reviews ಥ‿ಥ I can't believe how far this story has come!

**notes 2: **This may be the most nerdy thing I've ever done, but I made an OoT zelink playlist on 8tracks. You can find it here if you're interested /gerudo-desert/you-ve-been-the-only-thing-that-s-right-in-all-i-ve-done

**notes 3: **I mulled over posting a chapter this short for a while and decided to just do it anyway. I'll try to get the next one out soon.

**disclaimer: **Zelda is not mine.

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><p>.<p>

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The smell of smoke was ripe in the air when Link found himself in the clearing before the Forest Temple. He could see hints of purple flames licking at Saria's wall of vines and roots that blocked the path. Majora was here. The barrier was holding out; more plants grew to replace the ones that fell with each blow, but Link could tell it was weakening.

He glanced at the entrance of the temple, where the great tree still shielded the opening completely. He could only hope that the Kokiri were safe inside; calling up to them would alert the enemy. Link drew the Master Sword and stalked to one side of the path, using the rocky wall to block himself from view. Maybe he could get the jump on Majora.

This had been her plan the whole time, he realized now, berating himself. She wanted to lure him out, to separate him from Zelda and the rest of the army so she could finally eliminate him, and Link had practically laid the trap himself. He'd shown how far he was willing to go for Saria when he'd leapt in front of the flames for her in the Dark World, and Majora was using it as a weapon against him. More than that, her home base was only a few miles from this temple; he should have foreseen that her scouts would find out where the Kokiri were hiding.

It was too late for guilt. Link heard the fire roar through the vine barrier for the final time, and the smell of charred plants hit him seconds later. There were footsteps coming up the path. He gripped his sword tighter and took a breath, trying to calm the frantic beating of his heart.

"I know you're there, Hero of Time," she said, her voice amused. "You aren't as clever as you think you are. I know about your little friends up in the temple, too."

Link lunged out at her, quick as a cat, but the blade screeched against metal as Majora blocked it with her rapier. She eyed his sword distastefully. "I see you've gotten back the Master Sword. How annoying."

In response he pulled back briefly and slashed out at her again with a shout. "What, no time for small talk?" Majora chuckled as she blocked him again.

"You lost that privilege long ago," Link snapped, his arm shaking with effort as she pressed down on his blade with both of her rapiers, trying to make him bend underneath her strength.

"Oh, Hero," she purred, her eyes flashing red and yellow green in the forest's half-light. "I have lost very much over these centuries. Not simply _privileges, _but my rightful place in the heavens. Can you blame me for trying to get it back?"  
>He snorted in derision. She was insane. "I can blame you for using the Skull Kid and the mask salesman," he said as he scanned Majora's silver armor, looking for ways to get past it. Her neck was foolishly vulnerable, and Link saw a chink underneath her armpit, where the breastplate joined the arm guards. "I can blame you for trying to crush all of Termina with the moon. You killed Zelda's father, turned people into monsters, dragged innocents into the Dark World. That <em>battle <em>out there," he growled, jerking his head in the direction of Hyrule Field, "is _your _doing."

And there was more, though Link wouldn't give her the satisfaction of admitting it. He remembered everything about his ordeals in Termina in crisp, agonizing detail, even six years later; his dreams didn't let him forget. Only the Goddesses knew how long he'd spent trapped in a hellish cycle of three days on repeat, where he never stopped failing to save someone in need, where he fought every day to claw himself and Termina to freedom. The final fight against Majora had been desperate and terrifying; Link had needed to don the mask of a god to take her down. Afterwards, even back in Hyrule, months had passed before he could look up at the moon again without cold fear clenching in his throat. Maybe he should blame fate or poor luck or his own stubborn sense of duty, but he didn't. _She _was the one who had hurt him, and hurt all those people.

Majora only looked at him and shrugged, apathy written all over her features. "Guilty as charged."

Link jerked back as she struck out at him, and then surged forward, aiming for her right side but feinting left. His blade was within an inch of her neck when she countered it with one rapier and made to stab him with the other; he had no choice but to leap away. Then she was on him again, and he raised his shield to block her attacks. She was impossibly fast.

"You're shaking," Majora mocked as he met her blow for blow. "You're as scared as you were in Termina, when you were a little boy and I was still trying to break free of that damned mask." She let out a low chuckle. "Farore's chosen is a coward. How ironic."

Link bit the inside of his cheek and stayed quiet, knowing that she was trying to goad him into recklessness. Majora was right that he was afraid, but fear was as familiar to him as his own name by now. She was wrong about the rest—she didn't understand him and never would. Her arrogance made her blind.

"Did you like the gift I left in Death Mountain?" she continued, ignoring his silence. "Those Gorons, though idiotic, are fearsome warriors. It's unfortunate they're too busy to help your little army."

Link said nothing; he just ducked to avoid Majora's next attack.

"How do you think your little queen is faring out on the battlefield?" she smirked. "She made a good effort, to be sure, but that worthless shell of Hylia's cannot withstand my army. You abandoned her, and that Sheikah guard did too. She could already be—"

Link's foot slammed into Majora's gut so hard that one of the rapiers fell from her grasp, and he struck as she faltered, his blade slicing deep into the vulnerable spot under her arm, just above her ribs. She screamed, sounding more enraged than she was pained, and staggered back a step. Lilac-colored light spilled forth from her hands when she charged at him, aiming her rapier low to slash at Link's right calf. He cried out as pain flashed like lightning down his leg, and he dropped to his uninjured knee as hot blood began to seep through the fabric of his pants.

In a second Majora had him tackled to the ground, the magic in her hands making her grip like a vice as she pinned his sword arm down, pressing her other hand against his chest. Link struggled for breath, watching the blood from Majora's wound trickle steadily down her side and feeling the searing pain of his own injury. His pulse was beating wildly in his ears as he struggled against her.

"Remember when we first met in the Dark World, Hero?" she crooned as he held back a whimper. "You thought you had me beaten, but I unleashed my true form upon you, and you had no chance."

Link didn't dignify that with a response. He twisted in her grip, trying to find some way, any way, to free himself. Majora held his left arm; his right arm was pinned awkwardly under his own shield. Her weight held down both of his legs; the right one was injured besides. He wiggled his fingers, praying for the Triforce of Courage to give him strength, but nothing happened.

"My sisters can access their powers whenever they wish, but it's harder for me," Majora said bitterly. "I need something before I can reach the level of a full-fledged goddess. Can you guess what that is?" Her hand came up to brush against his cheek. Link turned his face away, and Majora went on without his answer. "Blood, Hero. Mine, or a mortal's; it makes no difference. I only need a _lot_."

Her hand was moving lower, to take something from his belt. _My knife, _Link realized; the one he used to fletch arrows and to cut apples from the trees for Epona. It was short and simple, but sharp enough to do the job. _I don't want to die. _He thrashed under Majora's weight, ignoring how much the jostling hurt his injured leg. _Navi, help me. _

Link could only watch as she plunged the blade down.

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Even without her trained eye, anyone could tell that they were losing. The magic Zelda had wreathed herself in kept her unharmed, but four of her elite twenty knights had already fallen, and the casualties among the footsoldiers had to be worse.

She shot her hand out, letting a wave of pink magic knock over the pair of Redeads approaching her. There were so many monsters, surrounding them on all sides—Zelda had lost track of how many she'd killed today, and had lost track of how long the fight had been. Her white gelding shied away nervously as a Moblin approached; this time, she just nocked an arrow, took aim, and killed it with an arrow between the eyes.

Behind her somewhere, Zelda heard a soldier's dying screams; the sound wrenched at her heart. She wondered if that woman had been someone's mother or wife or sister.

She had to do something. They'd already done so much, and fought so hard. She couldn't let it end like this for her people. And the worst thing—the very worst thing—was that every monster she killed could have once been an innocent. This slaughter had to end.

Her hand found the bag at her side and grasped cold metal, pulling it out. Zelda looked down at the crown she held, the one that had once belonged to her other half in an unreachable future.

She didn't know what she expected. Even she regained her memories, it wouldn't stop Majora. But the other Zelda had fought an apocalypse of her own, one that lasted seven years; there had to be something in those memories that could help her.

She had to do _something_.

Lips trembling, Zelda raised the crown and placed it on her head.

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	34. growing pains

**notes 1: **whoo! A long chapter for you, and next comes the epilogue!

**disclaimer: **I don't own Zelda.

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><p>.<p>

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The first thing Link felt when he jolted awake was pain.

The wound on his leg felt like a paper cut compared to the fire consuming the right side of his face. He couldn't _see_. Breath coming in panicked, anguished gasps, he raised a shaking hand to his face, running his fingers over the slick skin until he reached his eye. The left was unharmed, but the vision in the right was gone. The _eye _was gone. His gloves were stained red when he pulled them away; the blood was fresh enough that he knew he hadn't been out for long.

Choking back hysteria, he wrapped his fingers around his sword and reached for his shield.

"I see you've awoken," a voice boomed, and Link flinched and snapped his head up. Majora was towering over him—taller than the Forest Temple and even the highest trees. She shone so brightly it was painful, so brightly that he couldn't even see the details of her face. Her power rolled over him in waves, fearsome and overwhelming.

_I can't do this_, Link realized, the blood loss making his head spin. Triforce of Courage or not, no one could kill a goddess, especially not with one eye and an injured leg. He'd always known his death wouldn't be a peaceful one. And yet—_I'm coming with you, _Zelda's voice whispered in his head as she knelt before him in her room and listened to his story. _I don't want you to fight alone anymore, _she murmured on the walls of Hyrule Castle and apologized for being too selfless. _Welcome home, _she told him as she met him in the Temple of Time. _I love you, _she said, with a clear voice and warm eyes, over and over.

He still had reasons to live.

Shaking off the pain, Link gathered his feet underneath him and stood.

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There were voices all around her. Seven years flew through Zelda's mind in glimpses, the colors bright and overwhelming, and she felt old and young and everything at once. She leaned over Impa's arm to throw the Ocarina of Time from horseback, watching a small boy in green fade away into the distance. She watched strands of her golden hair drift to the floor as Impa cropped it short, as was the Sheikah custom. She spent years fighting and waiting for the moment when Link appeared in the Temple of Time with the Master Sword in his hand. She pulled him by the hand through Ganondorf's tower as fire and debris rained death upon them, her magic a shield around them. She watched, exhausted but triumphant, as Link ran his blade through the enemy's heart.

When Zelda's eyes opened, she found herself on the blood-soaked ground, among the bodies of the dead. Five of her knights stood in a protective circle around her as the battle raged around them. A sixth knight was crouched beside her. "Your Majesty," he said in relief as he saw that she was awake. He pressed a water skin into her hands, and she accepted it gratefully, her mind whirling as she drank.

Ganondorf's reign of terror had been nothing but a distant, sad story to her before; one that existed only in another world and in Link's memory. But now…it was _real. _Zelda had _lived _it. Her hands trembled as the familiar guilt took hold. She'd practically opened the doors to the Sacred Realm and let Ganondorf inside, allowing seven years of misery for all of Hyrule.

"…saw you fall off your horse," the knight was saying. "We must get you back to the castle, Your Majesty. You need a doctor. Shall I sound for the retreat?"

"_No!_" Zelda snapped, shooting up off the ground. They couldn't retreat; they didn't have the resources or the manpower to survive a siege. She struggled to clear her groggy mind. What good were these memories if she couldn't use them to help her people? Her eyes focused on the Lost Woods, where a huge figure gleamed purple on the horizon, rising above the trees. _Majora, _she realized. _And Link is there, fighting that monster._

"Your Majesty?" the knight said hesitantly, bewilderment written in his voice. "We're boxed in. We're taking casualties left and right. With you in danger, we have no choice—"

She put a hand on his arm and smiled at him. "I am Queen Zelda Nohansen, Leader of the Sages, bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, and I will not retreat. Trust me, sir. I can find a way out of this." Zelda got to her feet as a gust of wind blew her hair back from her face and made her crimson cloak billow out behind her. She looked at the lava running down the sides of Death Mountain, and at the carnage around her.

If she thought hard, before the seven years that were newly imprinted into her mind, before the first decade of her childhood, before the other lives that lingered at the edges of her consciousness, she could remember being more than Zelda. _Hylia _was there, too. She remembered the white dress and the Crimson Loftwing, the battle against the Demon King and the hero who she'd failed to save—and then, at the beginning of time itself, there were her sisters. _Find the three who were once five._

Zelda dug deep into the well of power inside her and prayed with everything she had. She prayed for Link and Impa and the Sages, for her poor dead father, for the knights surrounding her in a ring, for the united army that fought in Hyrule's name. She prayed for the soldiers who had died today and the ones still trapped in the forms of monsters. She prayed for herself, for the earnest, naïve ten-year-old who had almost ended the world while trying to save it, and for the full-fledged queen who now stood unbroken and alive.

She felt their power before she saw them. The feeling crashed into her like a hurricane gale, and from the way the soldiers around her faltered she could tell they felt it too. The Goddesses alighted before her in unison, three figures glowing so brightly that they illuminated the whole battlefield. One was as red as the lava erupting from the volcano; the second blue as the clear summer sky; the third green like the grasses of Hyrule Field. Zelda's guards dropped to their knees, as did their enemies and the soldiers nearby, and it spread like a ripple until every man, woman, and monster on the battlefield was kneeling—except one.

Zelda raised her chin and kept her hands fisted at her sides.

"_What mortal dares to summon the Golden Goddesses?_" a voice demanded, and it was impossible to tell whether it came from one of them or all three at once.

She looked up at them, her eyes stinging from the light, swallowing hard and gathering her courage. _Link, _she thought. _Be like Link_. "I'm no ordinary mortal," Zelda called, keeping her voice level. "I am Hylia reborn."

There was silence for a moment. Then the blinding lights began to dim as the Goddesses shrank to Zelda's size. They still gave off a soft, ethereal glow, and all three watched Zelda. Din took the form of a muscular woman dressed in red-tinted armor, her dark, weathered skin and red ponytail resembling that of a Gerudo. Her features were stern, and her eyes were brown and rich with passion.

Nayru's waterfall of dark hair cascaded around her slender form, the sleeves of her pale blue gown brushing the ground. Her almond-shaped eyes were calm and analytical as she gazed over the battlefield, her small lips pursed in disapproval.

Farore was the surprising one. She looked like a child no older than twelve, with a tangle of blond hair, a freckled face, and a wild, dancing spark in her green eyes. Her clothes were mismatched rags in forest greens and browns. Something about her reminded Zelda painfully of Link.

Nayru was the first one to speak. "Indeed, you are the child who holds my piece of the Triforce. I see that now. We have not been summoned by a mortal in…centuries. Only Hylia's spirit maiden could accomplish such a feat."

Din ran a casual hand over the large claymore she wore at her hip, gazing around at the field of kneeling soldiers and monsters. "A fine battle," she said decisively. "But why are we here?"

"I need your help," Zelda said, pointing towards the forest. "It's Majora. She turned my people into monsters and attacked us. Link is fighting her now, I think, but I don't—" her breath caught, and she cleared her throat to regain her composure. "I don't know if he can win."

Nayru sighed. "She is always stirring up trouble, that one."

Zelda blinked, shocked at the nonchalant tone of the Goddess's voice. "Please," she said. "I did the best I could to stop this invasion. Link did too, as did the rest of Hyrule. But we can't win against Majora. She's a _Goddess._"

"She is _not _a Goddess!" Din snarled, and heat burst forth from her, washing over Zelda. Her ponytail burst into flames but did not burn, instead remaining a blazing inferno. "We stripped her of that long ago—just as you did to yourself! You have no right to give us orders!"

Something in Zelda snapped, and rage came flooding in, seething and blinding. "You owe us this," she bit out through gritted teeth. "You _abandoned _us to the Demon King all those eons ago, with the Triforce as your goodbye present—a present which has brought nothing but grief! And Hylia—I was the only one who stayed back then, and the only one who's here now! The _least _you could do is lend a hand when I need it!"

The Goddesses were all silent for a moment until a small voice spoke. "We ought to help," Farore said, giving Zelda a sunny smile.

Nayru sighed once again, eyeing both Zelda and Farore. "Too attached to mortals, the both of you."

"I did create them, after all," Farore said coolly. "She may be a mortal now, but our sister still lives in this little girl. And that's our sister too, out there rampaging, angry and disconsolate. We owe them both."

Din and Nayru exchanged long looks, and then Din gave a sharp nod. The heat coming from her cooled, and her hair settled around her shoulders, smoking softly. Nayru offered a hand to Farore, who reached up to take it, and Din stepped forward to take hold of them both. The quiet glow around each them began to brighten. Before Zelda's eyes, the lava streaming down Death Mountain began to slow, then solidify into craggy rock-rivers that froze on the volcano.

"Thank you," Zelda said in relief. "Tell me, is there a way to turn my people back?"

All three of them looked at each other, then back at Zelda, smiles on their faces. Then the light shone too brightly for her to see anything else. "Look within yourself, Hylia," they said as one. "The answer is there."

Then they were gone.

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Link rolled to the side as bolts of magic flew towards him, relying on the whirring sounds that they made as they shot past him. With his right eye gone, he felt unbalanced and wrong; he'd failed to dodge one of her attacks, earning his a painful graze on his shoulder.

He rocked to his feet, hand latched around the Master Sword, and stopped, finding it strange that the clearing was suddenly silent. Then he saw Majora standing still before three figures just as tall as she was, glowing red and blue and green. It couldn't be.

"_Majora_," said the three of them at once, and Link knew it had to be the Goddesses. "_What is the meaning of this?"_

"_Sisters_," she replied cordially. _"I was playing with the Hero of Time. He's quite stubborn. I thought he'd be dead by now."_

_ "What do you hope to gain from this?"_

Majora's laughter boomed around him like a rockslide. Link didn't miss the hint of fear that was evident in her voice. "_Why, your love and respect, of course."_

_ "Enough," _the Goddesses thundered, and the ground shook as they lunged at Majora. The three of them shone blindingly bright until there was no red or blue or green, only brilliant, violent gold. Link shielded his eye.

Majora's scream echoed through his skull, through the forest, through all of Hyrule. When he could bear to look again, she was on the raised dais carved with the Triforce and the Forest Sage's crest. She was back in the form of the woman he'd first met, pushing herself up by her arms to glare at the Goddesses who stood over her, shrunk down to human size. Her silver armor was all but ripped away, and her hair was slipping out of its braid. Link watched in silence.

"You _monsters_!" Majora raged. "You stripped away the last of my immortality—for what? I'm one of you! We created the world together!"

"And your recklessness nearly destroyed it," the woman in blue said, her voice flat and calm. That had to be Nayru. "You lost the right to be one of us long ago."

"I made a mistake," Majora seethed. "And what did you do? You put me in a cage and _left! _Hylia saved the world on her own! None of you even tried." She scrambled back from them, trying to get to her feet, but when the red-haired woman who Link assumed was Din raised a hand, and arms made of earth rose up to snake around Majora's limbs, holding her down. Majora thrashed and pulled, but the fight went out of her soon enough. "Fine," she snapped. "Fine. Why would I want a place in the heavens if it means spending eons with deities who care nothing for the world they created? I'm done."

The Goddesses turned towards Link slowly. The child-deity who could only be Farore held something out to him—a purple mask, spiked at the edges and staring up at him with angry eyes. He looked at the Goddesses in shock.

"It is your choice, Hero," Farore said. "She is a mortal now; the Blade of Evil's Bane will cut through her easily. You may kill her if you wish, or walk away and we will seal her back in the mask that was her old prison."

"My choice?" he repeated incredulously. "Why is it _my _choice?"

"Goddesses can be wrong from time to time," Nayru said, casting a look at Majora. "It will be interesting to let the chosen one decide. Choose wisely, hero."

"The spirit maiden has faith in you," Din added. "Do what you believe is right."

_The spirit maiden. Zelda. _With the mask in one hand and the Master Sword in the other, Link approached the fallen Goddess of Magic, limping on his injured leg. He felt sick to death of killing. If there was a chance to spare her—no. He cut that train of thought off before it could end. Mortal or immortal, Majora was too dangerous.

She stared up at him defiantly, her acid eyes gleaming with fury. "Not much of a choice, is it, Hero?" Majora sneered. "They've never given you a choice. They've controlled you since the day you were born. They couldn't care less about your life, or about mine."

Link let out a long breath. "I know that."

She scoffed, her fingernails scrabbling against the stone. "Do you? And yet here you stand. Incredible."

"You didn't show any more care for people's lives than they did," Link pointed out. "Whatever I choose, you're done, Majora. You can't hurt anyone anymore."

"Very well," she said, resigned. "Just…" she threw a look of loathing at the mask in his hand. "Don't put me back in that cage."

Link hesitated, wondering if she was planning one last game. Something in his face made her laugh bitterly. "I'm out of tricks, Hero. Believe me. All I wanted was to find a place where I belonged, and I've failed. It doesn't matter anymore. You understand that, don't you?"

He did understand. Besides, she'd broken out of the mask before, and could do it again. Link dropped the mask, hearing it clatter against the stone, and raised his sword. Majora gave the Goddesses a long look—this time, there was no hate in her face; just weariness. Then she turned away and closed her eyes. "Do it quickly, Hero."

Behind him, the Golden Goddesses bowed their heads. "Goodbye, sister," they said softly in unison, and their voices were almost sad.

Link swung his sword towards Majora's neck and felt it slice through the flesh, keeping his eye closed as he felt her blood spatter against his skin. Then he stumbled back, away from the corpse and the mask's staring eyes. He looked back at the Goddesses.

Din bent to pick up the mask, running a hand over its surface and gazed at it for a moment. Then she pressed it between both of her hands, and it crumbled into dust, carried away by the wind.

Nayru looked in the direction of Hyrule Field, where plumes of smoke rose from the battle and from Death Mountain. She held both her arms up to the sky and closed her eyes, and raindrops began to spatter the leaves above their heads, growing gradually in volume.

Farore cast a hand out, and the grasses and tree roots of Kokiri Forest crept over the stone dais, over the Triforce, and over the dead Goddess. They grew and grew until the dais was covered completely, and then purple flowers sprouted up from the grave.

Their work done, the Goddesses gave Link a final nod and joined their hands together, their golden glow encompassing them until they were gone.

Link slid the Master Sword into the scabbard on his back and pressed a hand to the bloody wound where his eye had been, swaying with exhaustion. He thought of Zelda, and knew that he should find her and help her, but he was so tired. He felt his legs wobble, and sank down to his knees in the grass.

Link turned his face up to the sky and let the rain wash the blood away.

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The black clouds from the volcano eruption were gone, replaced by ones of natural grey as rain fell over the battlefield. She'd seen Majora fall, and knew that it was almost over. Zelda breathed in, feeling the clean winter air, and exhaled.

They had called her Hylia. She'd thought her powers as a Goddess had been gone for good, but maybe they'd been there all along. The magic that had helped her survive her years in disguise, helped her seal Ganondorf away and pull her people out of the Dark World—maybe that was more than Zelda had thought it was.

She let her eyes fall shut and pulled in another long breath. When she breathed out, she felt her magic drift out among Majora's army. There was power in it, but more than that, there was love. Zelda loved the soldiers who risked their lives for her. She loved the farmers who gave life to them all. She thought of her favorite cook who had been dragged into the Dark World, and one of the handmaidens who had been with her since she was small, and her dutiful captain of the guard. That, Zelda knew, was what had always made her different from the other Goddesses—she loved each and every one of her people.

When her eyes opened, there were no monsters on the field.

People were gazing around with glazed, confused looks on their eyes as her soldiers recovered from their shock enough to move through the crowds, getting to those who were injured and beginning to bring them back inside. Zelda could hear commanders barking orders, and children crying, and people laughing in joy and relief.

A hand on her shoulder made her turn. Nabooru stood behind her, with a few minor scrapes and bruises but no major injuries. There was pride in her eyes. "You saved them," she said, her voice awed.

"Yes," Zelda murmured, not quite believing it herself as she looked around Hyrule Field, at her healing kingdom. "I did."

She wanted to laugh. She wanted to weep.

Most of all, she wanted to see Link.

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	35. epilogue

**notes 1:** I want to clear up what a few of you said in your reviews on the previous chapter. the main reason I portrayed the Golden Goddesses as pretty apathetic is that they don't do a whole lot to help Hyrule in the games. I mean, yeah, they created the world, but they didn't really help when it was in danger. They let Link and Zelda, mortals (and _kids_), stop whatever evil was threatening Hyrule on their own. To me, that doesn't make them seem like overly loving deities the way Hylia—who did everything she could to protect her people, including sacrificing her immortality—appears in Skyward Sword.

**notes 2: **In my headcanon, child timeline Zelda has lost not only her memories of Ocarina of Time's events, but also all memories of her previous lives and her life as Hylia. That's why she was able to summon the Goddesses not just as Zelda, but as Hylia reborn.

**notes 3: **the next fanfiction I plan to write is going to be relatively short (10-13 chapters probably) and it's going to be about Zelda's experiences during Ocarina of Time. I intend to follow the canon plotline, but also show what I imagine Zelda was doing offscreen. There might be one-sided Zelink in there; I haven't decided on that yet.

**notes 4: **Finally, I just want to thank all of you so, so much for your support and your reviews, despite my slow updates. It means the world to me. I hope you enjoy the last chapter!

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Link awoke to the sound of slicing apples. He opened his single eye and saw the familiar walls of his bedroom in Hyrule Castle. Frost gathered on the windowpanes, but the fire crackling in the hearth kept the chill away. He brushed his fingers over the clean cotton bandages shrouding the right half of his face. Surprisingly, he felt no pain there, or on the leg Majora had injured.

"You're awake," said a small voice beside him. With half of the world now dark, he had to turn his head to see Saria perched on a stool next to his bed, her fairy nestled in her hair, sound asleep. There was a paring knife in her hand, and she was slicing up a vibrantly red apple onto the plate in her lap.

Link's voice came out hoarse and cracked. "Saria?"

"You've been out for two days," Saria replied as she handed him a glass of water. He sat up and drank, murmuring his gratitude.

"What are you doing in the castle?"

Saria looked down, fidgeting with the knife in her hands. "We were in the temple the whole time," she admitted. "I heard you fighting that awful woman…I heard you screaming when she…" she swallowed and looked up at him. "I wanted to help you, Link. You have no idea how much. But I had to keep the others safe. They're home in the forest now, but…I wanted to be here."

"You did the right thing," Link consoled. "And you took care of me, didn't you? Someone must have stopped the bleeding before they brought me here. I owe you my life."

Saria smiled and looked up at the fairy resting on her head, who gave a tiny yawn and rolled over in her sleep. "She flew to the Great Fairy's cave and brought back a healing fairy who helped you. It was the least we could do." She looked back at him, and her smile faded. "The eye, though…I'm sorry. It couldn't be saved."

He'd known that the moment Majora's knife came plunging down. He hadn't expected to survive that fight, though, or to stand in the presence of the Golden Goddesses. He wasn't sure how he would shoot a bow or fight or do much of anything now, but he was still alive.

"You looked disappointed when you woke up, you know," Saria teased, her voice mischievous. "Were you hoping someone else would be waiting by your bedside?"

"Of course not," Link said, puzzled.

Saria only giggled and hopped off the stool, dislodging her fairy, who sprung up into the air with her wings fluttering rapidly. "The queen wouldn't leave this room until I told her I'd stay with you," she said. "On the night after the battle, she fell asleep in this stool, resting her head on your bed. Yesterday, even though she had so much to do, she brought her paperwork in here so she could sit by your side. Impa dragged her off to bed last night, finally, but Zelda came again this morning and made me promise to fetch her as soon as you woke up. I'd better go do that, or I'll face her wrath." She left the plate of apples on the stool and leaned over to kiss Link's cheek, then started to leave.

"Hey, Saria?" Link called after her. She paused, one hand on the doorframe. "It's good to see you smiling again," he said.

She flashed him one more grin and slipped out of the room.

Link kicked the sheets away and pulled up his pant leg, looking at the fresh, horizontal scar Majora's rapier left on his calf. His legs were already littered with scars; he didn't mind one more. But his eye…he grabbed Saria's paring knife and slipped it under the bandages, sawing at the linen until it fell away from his face. The eyelid was closed tight; Link couldn't open it, try as he might. When he raised his hand to touch the injury, he could feel rough, knotted scars on and around his eyelid.

The Master Sword was leaning against his bed. Link picked it up, reassured by the familiar weight in his hand. He unsheathed it halfway, catching a glimpse of his reflection, and of the scar on his face. He tried to think of it as a mercy—his eyelid had survived, after all, and there was no pain—but as his fingers lingered over the scar, all he could do was grimace distastefully, remembering Majora's mocking voice as she dug the blade deeper and deeper.

"Link?"

He looked up. Zelda stood in the doorway, her chest heaving for breath and her eyes wide. His gaze went to the crown on her head—not the one she'd been coroneted with, but the smaller, simpler diadem of a princess, golden and studded with rubies. Then Link looked at her eyes, and at how they were older, and wiser, and stronger.

The Master Sword slipped out of his hands and landed on the bed.

"Zelda," he said slowly as his mouth struggled to keep up with his racing thoughts. "You…"

"I remember everything," she said breathlessly. "Ganondorf…the Spiritual Stones…being Sheik…and you. And you."

Link parted his lips to speak, but nothing came out. Zelda's first few steps were hesitant as she crossed the room, but her composure slipped when she flung herself down on the bed and threw her arms around him. Link felt his shoulders shaking, though he wasn't sure whether he was laughing or sobbing. Zelda's hands were calm as she ran them through his hair, but he could feel her tears soaking through his shirt.

She remembered. Link had scarcely allowed himself to hope for it, even after the other Zelda in the future had given him the crown. He thought of the first time he stepped back into the garden six years ago after stopping Ganondorf; of how devastated he'd been when he saw no flicker of recognition in her eyes. He thought of all the times he'd looked at her, searching her face for a trace of the memory he longed for. It had all been worth something. His chest felt light, and full of something that was almost joyful.

For several long minutes, neither of them spoke. Neither of them needed to.

"I feel like I was living half of a life," Zelda said finally. "But now…I'm whole. I'm _me_." She pulled away enough to look at him and used one hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. The other hand stayed enclosed in his. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry," she said with a rueful smile.

Link smiled too, feeling warm and impossibly giddy. "I love you," he breathed, kissing her on the cheek, on the forehead, on her lips, on her nose, until she was giggling like a little girl. "It was you," he realized. "You summoned the Goddesses."

"I did," she agreed, making a face. "They were…reluctant to help. But help they did, I suppose. I have a rough idea of what happened from what Saria told me. She said that they made you choose."

The smile fell from his face. "Majora was dangerous even _inside_ the mask. And if she broke out once, then this was all pointless."

"I know," Zelda said gently, placing a hand on his arm. "I would have done the same thing. Still…it was not right. The Goddesses should have made the decision themselves."

Link looked out the window. Snow was falling upon Hyrule, soft and silent, making small flecks of white gather on the roof's shingles just below the window. "The battle," he said suddenly, looking back at her. "What happened?"

"We nearly lost. I thought the monsters would overcome us, but I—I turned them back with my magic, Link. They're safe."

His smile was back as he felt relief flood him. "Zelda, you're amazing."

A rosy blush spread across her cheeks, and she looked down at their entwined hands. "They are a little weak and dazed, and they seem to remember nothing about what happened while they were transformed. That, at least, is a blessing. But still…we lost many people on both sides." She brought her gaze up, looking at his missing right eye. Link saw the concern on her face.

"I'm fine," he insisted, before she could say anything. "The fairy healed it completely. It doesn't hurt."

"You don't always have to be brave, you know," Zelda said softly. "Not around me." She didn't ask, but Link heard the question in her voice all the same.

It took him a moment to muster up the will to reply. "Majora had me pinned down," Link said quietly. "She said that she needed blood to become a real goddess or something. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but my leg was hurt already, and she was strong. She took my belt knife and—" he stopped there, sparing her the bloody details. _I didn't beg, _Link reminded himself. _I did scream, but I never groveled. _"She kept taunting me."

Zelda reached up a hand to smooth his hair away from his face. "Taunting you?" she repeated.

"She said she was watching me the whole time in Termina. She knew that there were people I wasn't able to save. She said that I left them terrified and miserable, that I was a poor excuse for a hero." He looked away guiltily.

"She was trying to get to you. You _did _save them, Link. You stopped the moon from falling."

Link shook his head. "No—Majora was telling the truth. There are some things even you don't know about me."

Zelda frowned, her forehead wrinkling the way it always did when she was worried. "Tell me."

He took a breath and began to speak the words that shame and regret had kept lodged in his throat for years. Surprisingly, it felt like relief. "I was running out of time, and I either had to call the giants or start the cycle over again, and I…I was so tired. I don't even know how many times I relived those three days. I was eleven and scared and I wanted it to be over." He was tracing the Triforce on the back of her hand, his fingers brushing lightly over its dark lines. "I abandoned the Gorons in that last cycle. They froze on the mountain. I left Pamela's father locked in the closet, half a monster. Lulu stayed on that beach, mute and alone and childless, and I didn't help her."

Zelda was silent for a long time. Then she raised a hand to his ruined eye, her touch cool and soothing; Link swallowed hard, his throat growing tight. Zelda's fingers slid down to cup his cheek, and she leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to the scarred flesh. His left eye filled with tears, and they spilled over, rolling down his cheek. Zelda brushed them away with a thumb and wrapped her arms around him.

"There were people I didn't save, too," she whispered into his shoulder. "Both after Ganondorf took over, and during this mess. I know how it feels." She took a breath. "But you are only human, and Triforce or not, you don't bear responsibility for every single conflict and every single life. You did your best, Link. You always have. No one could even hope to do as well." She pressed a kiss to his temple, her lips soft against his hair. "And I love you," she added. "No matter what."

Link held her close and let his eye fall shut, listening to Zelda's breathing and thinking that maybe she was right. Maybe all he'd wanted was to be able to forgive himself.

He pulled away so he could look at her. With one eye or with both, Zelda was smart and patient and kind and beautiful. She'd fought by his side, and taught him so much, and loved him more than he'd ever hoped.

"Thank you," Link said, and leaned in to kiss her properly.

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Zelda listened to the nobles' chatter behind her and took a sip of the sweet cherry wine that was this town's pride and joy. Warm wind stirred her hair, carrying with it the rich scents of the town and the vineyards. In the small practice ring her guards had set up, Link was clashing blades with Impa while the court and the townspeople gathered around to watch.

Impa, unexpectedly, had been the one to offer her help in teaching Link to fight despite the loss of his eye. She admitted—reluctantly—that she had misjudged him after all, and that his labors for Hyrule were admirable. Link had adapted quickly over the past two months or so, and he was effectively countering even the attacks that came on his right side. Now he was slashing out at her quickly with his blunted practice sword, driving her back and back until she stumbled and fell into the dirt. The crowd roared their approval; Link pulled Impa to her feet, smirking at something she said to him.

This was the sixth major town they'd visited since Zelda announced her plans for a royal tour of Hyrule, after the snow finally cleared and spring lit up the land. Most of her court accompanied her, though some stayed at the palace to manage Castle Town while she was gone.

The nobles thought the journey was in celebration of her seventeenth birthday; in truth, Zelda wanted to assess how well the towns and villages were recovering after Majora's army burned its way through Hyrule Field. With her, she brought architects who could fix the damaged buildings and bridges and dams, instructing them to hire local construction workers whose pay would come from her treasury. They established shelters for the orphans and the homeless, and Zelda was evaluating the local guard of each town they visited.

Despite how busy she was, the townsfolk always insisted on throwing celebrations like this one upon her arrival. Zelda didn't mind, though; it staved off the nobles' constant complaints for a few hours, and it let the commoners see her laughing and dancing and eating amongst them. Besides, she was learning more about Hyrule from this tour than from all the lessons she'd been given as a child.

As Link and Impa left the ring, the musicians struck up a joyful tune on their fiddles and flutes, and people began to dance, the women's skirts swirling in bright colors as they turned. Zelda stood, waving off her guards as they moved to follow her, and went to meet Link.

He was breathing hard from the fight as he hung his practice sword on the rack, but he grinned at her as she approached. He'd taken to wearing a patch over his missing eye, to conceal the scars. "Doing anything important?" he asked.

"For once, no," she replied. "I think I've had too much wine to be doing anything important."

"Good," Link said, taking her by the arm and leading her away from the festivities. They walked through the tall grass to the horse pastures, where Link whistled the notes of Epona's song as they reached the fence. She came trotting up, her chestnut coat shining in the sun. Link hopped over the fence and reached into his pockets for a sugar cube to feed Epona.

Zelda watched in silence. _Now, _she told herself. _Ask him now, or you'll never do it._

"You know," Zelda said carefully, leaning against the other side of the fence as Link stroked Epona's neck, "you've been very helpful with training the guards these past two months. It is a shame that the poor old captain never returned from the Dark World, truly, but you have inspired the troops in a way I've never seen."

Link led Epona out of the pasture, closing the gate behind him. "It was no problem, Zelda. You've thanked me a thousand times already."

"I have," Zelda agreed. "But Impa and my advisors and I have talked it over. With the job vacant, and the guards liking and respecting you already…I thought you might want to become my permanent captain of the guard."

Link looked up, his eye widening. He drew breath to answer, but Zelda got there first. "I know how you feel about your freedom," she said, keeping her voice even. "You could train a right hand, someone to take over when you need a break from the castle. And you would travel often on recruitment missions, and when trouble springs up. I don't want to pressure you into anything. But you…you would be there. With me." She gave a shaky laugh and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Take as long as you need to think about it. If you want to leave, to travel, like before…if that's what makes you happy…then I don't mind, really."

Link stepped forward and kissed her long and sweet, only breaking away when Epona nudged his shoulder with her nose impatiently, making them both laugh. "All right," he said, though Zelda wasn't sure whether he spoke to her or to the horse. He hoisted himself onto Epona's back, and offered Zelda a hand. She let him pull her up behind him.

"That was a yes, wasn't it?" Zelda asked breathlessly.

"Yes," Link promised. "I'm not going anywhere. At least, not without you."

She felt peace bloom within her, light and fluttering like butterfly wings. Zelda wrapped her arms around his middle, and Link touched his heels to his horse's sides.

Epona leapt forward into a gallop, the tall grass whispering with the movement, and off they went.

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End file.
